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A Chinese restaurant has been created in a west London gallery in a new exhibition on food and art.
The 1950s chop suey house is the brainwave of artist Karen Tam, 32, who grew up in a similar takeaway in Canada.
But, sadly, visitors who step inside will not be treated to sweet and sour pork or egg fried rice but an installation showing Tam's father and other restaurateurs cooking.
“I think food and art come together naturall,” said the artist who is lives in Russell Square and is studying for a PhD. “People coming to see the show can relate to a Chinese restaurant. Everybody has eaten in one.”
The installation can be seen at the Pitzhanger Manor Gallery in Ealing, west London, alongside Bread Line, a work by Antony Gormley made of bites of bread spread out on the floor, and a two-metre high steel cheese grater by Mona Hatoum.
Co-curator Cynthia Morrison-Bell said food had long played a role in art from any number of still lives and market scenes to Magritte's apple and Andy Warhol's soup cans. Today contemporary artists were using food to examine issues of recycling, waste and cultural identity.
The artist Lia Anna Hennig, for instance, has created an installation of more than 500 salamis inspired by the Italy of her childhood. This is her first three-dimensional work but the salamis reflect the shape of the flowing lines of her drawing, Mrs Morrison-Bell said. “She grew up in Italy and salami is part of her psyche,” she said.
Nearly 20 artists were invited to take part and suggest what work they would like to include. “We are calling it Pot Luck. It's a bit of a medley of different flavours. You don't just come out with one. Some of it is very funny, some of it is serious.”
Pot Luck opens today and runs until 2 January. Admission is free.
