The Artist's Palate
Cooking with the World's Great Artists
by Frank Fedele

EXCERPT FROM INTRODUCTION TO
“THE ARTIST’S PALATE;
COOKING WITH THE WORLD’S GREAT ARTISTS.”
By Frank Fedele

“While our scientists develop ever more powerful microscopes and telescopes, the process of creation in all its forms, both large and small, continues to unfold before our eyes. As living human beings, we are also a continuation and product of this ongoing creative process. Under certain circumstances, some of us are able to tap into this magical process- to the amazement of others. When this level of creativity is achieved, we call the messenger an artist and inspect his or her markings with fascination and curiosity. The artist projects a vision, and we use our own subjective experiences to interpret what we are given in order to achieve a personal translation of that vision.

The way humans learn involves both linking bits of information to form a chain of understanding and breaking down large concepts into comprehensible parts. However, in terms of viewing human creations, or what we call “art,” we are relegated to the role of an inquisitive guest, who can only peep into the windows of the artist’s creative mind. We search for emotional hints in the gestural drippings of Jackson Pollock or in the sweeping windblown rhythms of Van Gogh. But alas, we have arrived to late for the party, and the artist has already completed the task, leaving us only the remnants of the creative process to analyze and interpret. How, I wondered, could we, as an audience, gain access to the inner chambers of the artist’s creative mind? How, could we experience something directly, just enough for us to digest some of what the artist is experiencing? The culinary arts are closely linked to the visual arts in the sense: they incorporate elements of color, form, and texture, while weaving in the sensory preceptors of taste and smell to achieve their effects. In the shared appreciation of food, the artist’s genius—and some of his or her own experience –leaks out. This is the chamber that we can enter: the artist’s dining room. Here we can gather clues to better understand the person behind the work.”

	"The inevitable juxtapostion of art and food is deliciously dealt with in this provocative and arousing book!" ---Artist/Designer; Milton Glaser
Author Frank Fedele	What's New September 15, 2005 The Art Institute of Chicago. A slide show presentation and book signing click here

Interview with Frank Fedele, author of The Artist's Palate

In your opinion, what is the nature of the relationship between art and food?

"The culinary arts and the world of fine art both utilize texture, visual presentation, and both are created by man's personal selectivity. The great chef selects and then adds seasoning and herbs, the fine artist selects and then adds color and form, the great chef adds water, the fine artist thins his paint, the great chef adds a pork chop, the great artist draws a pork chop. Both add and subtract ingredients, both make decisions on how their creation is made, and decide when it's complete and finally done."

What did you wish to accomplish by writing this book?

"To in some way experience the essence of the great artist other than by viewing his artworks, either through re-creating what the artist has created, by means within our control, as in the kitchen, or by digesting what the great artist has selected and digested. A technique for the layman to feel, taste and experience creative greatness through the recipes contained in The Artist's Palate."

To read the interview in it's entirety reach  DK.com