Silverman Gallery is pleased to present, Food For Thought, a group exhibition curated by Sabrina Buell on view from July 23 – August 30, 2010

The exhibition is inspired by the 1971 Joseph Beuys multiple of the same name, which features an extensive list of food items. With signature irreverence, the piece toys with the various connotations of “artistic consumption,” undermining the idea of aesthetic elevation with base matters. Through this simple and graphic intervention, Beuys explores numerous preoccupations which were integral to his practice: the contingency of the art object, the viability of unorthodox materials (such as butter), the reproducibility of multiples, questions of taste and the informe, amongst others. By interweaving gastronomy with aesthetics, Beuys also provides an apt and timely commentary on art as a disposable and consumable economy.

The assembled works develop Beuys’ original thematic through various avenues, expanding on the idea of food both literally and abstractly. These range from Ed Ruscha’s playful gustatory semantics in Sweets, Meats, Sheets, to Japanese photographer, Nobuyoshi Araki’s sexually charged explorations of the female nude. The exhibition also opens an intergenerational dialogue, including work by emerging artists, such as Corin Hewitt and his process based photographs, as well as Jen Susman and her site-specific installation utilizing mint chip ice cream. Though varied, all of the works ultimately return to the Beuysian idea of art as social sustenance.

Food For Thought, curated by Sabrina Buell includes work by Nobuyoshi Araki, Joseph Beuys, Nayland Blake, Leidy Churchman, R. Crumb, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Daphne Fitzpatrick, Corin Hewitt, Deva Graf, Dr. Lakra , Ed Ruscha and Jen Susman.

Sabrina Buell is West Coast director of Matthew Marks Gallery.