Meat Artists

"Meat America" a new Dominic Episcopo exhibition at Bambi Gallery

2011-01-22T13:57:00.001-05:00

I had the pleasure of attending Dominic's recent solo exhibition. It's really great and a lot of fun.

I hope to return to get more photos before the show ends because the opening reception was absolutely crammed with his fans. Speaking with him, Dominic admitted an abundance of attention from the press had led to numerous articles and interviews. Long live the meat artists!

Below are a couple snapshots I took with my phone.

http://www.bambiproject.com/shows.html

Mike Geno - painter of meat.

2010-06-05T14:37:00.037-04:00

I began painting meat in 2001. Having previously explored various forms of objects and toy shapes that are designed to attract our interaction, like rubber duckies, I had a moment of clarity in my studio. My epiphany was no doubt a result of hunger pains and a momentary case of low blood sugar. I was on a grad school budget, after all. I suddenly had the urge to paint a big juicy steak. I wanted to create an image so vibrant, saturated and chunky that viewers would want to bite right into it. I wanted to incite the same urges I had, not unlike my temptation to squeeze any rubber ducky that crosses my path.

(porterhous & sirloin each 12x12")

While in art college, I had worked in meat rooms of supermarkets, as an apprentice meat cutter, long enough to see the aesthetic values in a wide range of cuts of meat. My role as an 'artist/meatcutter' allowed me to recognize the necessity for meat to be abstracted in order to be swallowed, therefore, it was natural for me to objectify meat and approach it with the same focus as my other still-life objects.   As I approached each cut of meat as iconic symbols of consumer product I focused on how enticing and sensuous raw meat can be.

Having had the opportunity to elevate raw meat to the value of art (or is it the other way around?) and then often being able to eat my subject after each painting’s completion, the meat portrait series has been successful on many levels for me. I found it most enjoyable to work with subject matter that attracts a diverse audience consisting of vegetarians and carnivores alike.
  (*click images to see larger)

More recently, I have focused on various food subjects and bacon began to stand out to me as something I could never tire of.   It lead towards a more abstract direction than I've ever previously explored in my studio. I returned to using oil pastels and creating an ongoing series of bacon compositions. After initially working small, I soon realized the need for a larger, more expressive scale on 30x22" sheets of Stonehenge paper.

most recent drawings:

For more information about Mike Geno's art:

www.mikegeno.com

Eat Me Daily (interview)

Etsy (shop)

The Bacon Show!

2009-11-01T12:21:00.030-05:00

The Bacon Show is up at Mew Gallery in South Philadelphia!

The Bacon show celebrates the glory of bacon. It may be common knowledge that bacon, the candy of meats, is the new black. That's no reason to miss this small but impressive exhibit of fun bacon art. The Bacon Show is at Mew Gallery in Philadelphia and it includes ten artists, including 4 of the meatartists.com artists!

The exhibit spans fine art painting, photography, and drawing as well as impressive kitschy crafts that will make you realized you've been missing out on the glory of bacon until now. It will also make you realize your holiday gift-giving doldrums are over! The show is fun, the show is affordable! Anything else would be a disgrace to bacon, which should never be disrespected!

click to see images larger

Come to the exhibit (the opening reception is Nov. 7th) and see for yourself or shop online! All of the exhibit is attainable through the site. If you're interested in a purchase, just email!
Images of the exhibition will be on flickr and here!

more images below will be added, scroll and scroll to see some images of the show.

(west wall art -left to right : Jacob Crose, Mike Geno, Ken B. Miller, John Wolfer, Jessica Lewis)

(east wall art - left to right: John Wolfer, Sappymoosetree, Mike Geno, Ellen Cagnossola aka: sweetsoaps.com , Cho)

"A Little Bacon" by John Wolfer - 2009, acrylic on board, SOLD

"Bacon" by John Wolfer - 2009, framed painting, acrylic on canvas, $600

(on top) "bacon friends", water color, $40

"breakfast" SOLD!, (yarn, glue, paint), $80

by sappymoosetree(.com)

"Bacon Strips" by Jessica Lewis: 16.25" x 22.5" Digital Print Mounted with archival board under museum glass, $365 Prints also available from the artist.

"pancetta", 5.5x8" oil on wood, $300
"cooked bacon", 8.25x8.25" oil on wood, $500 by Mike Geno

Soap art handcrafted by Ellen Cagnossola of sweetsoaps.com
“This one ate at the market”
Maple scented bacon soap sculpture $12.95
Bacaon Soap Bar, Snowman Poop Bar, $5 each
(Bars available @ sweetsoaps.com)

“probably soy bacon” by Jacob Crose
mixed media on paper, SOLD

“Dennis the Pig” by Ken B. Miller
archival pigment print in mixed media hickory-smoked frame $250

"4470002328" by Cho
Digital Photographic Print, $175

"seven days of pancetta" by William Pettit
5x7 cm each, $30 each, $180 for the set.

“Mona Bacon” by Mike Geno
19x13" framed archival pigment print $75, unframed $65
14x11” framed archival pigment print $45, unframed $35

"bacon magnets" by sappymoosetree 8"x2", $6 each.
There's less than 30 in the shop for the show. There's some in the Mew Gallery window display as well as on a table in the show.
You can get more online from sappymoosetree.com !

Customized Bacon Pillows, all SOLD!
I forgot to photograph the 4th, my favorite, which has 3 strips and "3 degrees of kevin B." hand embroidered onto it.

In the window at Mew Gallery: "bacon bright" by Mike Geno, hand-painted bacon floor lamp, $85.00

here's some other items by Mike Geno available at the show
and they're also available online here

"bacon pals" blank card/envelope, $4.50 each

"bacon love" archival 8x10" print, $20

"bacon tree" holiday postcards available in packs of 5! at the show and online.

more photos of the work and window display to come! stay tuned.
email for any questions regarding a purchase.

John Wolfer - Painter, educator, meat man

2009-10-01T18:58:00.000-04:00

John Wolfer is a Cincinnati based artist-teacher that first contacted me to discuss meat paintings, something we had in common. He also had a history with the meat room, through his dad being a butcher. He often painted scenes of a meat counter and later brought in the traditional advertisements into his compositions.

Over the years our long distance friendship included meeting, finally, for our exhibition "Meat Store" in Brooklyn in 2006 at gallerythe. We've kept in contact and that's partially the reason for this site. Meat artists sharing and connecting like John and I have has led to unexpected opportunities.

click to see any of the images on this pagelarger

(Below is a letter I was asked to write on his behalf)

John Wolfer has developed, and continues to develop, a body of work that captivates, provokes and entertains. His paintings depicting still scenes of under the meat counter have, at first glance, a seemingly serious still-life realist agenda. It’s after one’s eye travels through this painted space that a humor and affection for the subject emerge. Inclusion of what is normally overlooked such as the text in price signs next to the subject for sale, acts as subtle hint towards a more whimsical reading of these images of slaughtered animal parts.

Pushing further, John explores subtleties that seduce the viewer with the color and patterns of raw meat. His spirals of tubular ground meat produce a decorative design that few can ignore. The map-like patterns of marbleized steaks and chops are blunt reminders of the individuality of each piece of meat. This keeps the subject from being reduced to simply stylized icons. The presentation and detail provided creates abstractions of the subject’s beauty and forces the audience to address meat on various levels that they likely have not previously explored.

click to see larger

The humor and edge of voice seems to result from John’s incorporation of text and printed image combined with the meat. His work has expanded, referring to the consumer – commercial side of our relationship with meat. The images present an ambiguous attitude that is open to multiple readings. The possibility of the playfulness of this side of John’s work has undeniably opened up new dialogues and extended the likely-hood of who is engaged as an attentive audience.

You can see more of his meat paintings here

http://johnwolfer.com/Painting.html

Dominic Episcopo -Photographer of fashion to food

2009-09-05T11:18:00.015-04:00

Dominic Episcopo is an interesting photographer I've re-discovered for myself a few times. Yeah, that sounds weird, huh? You see, Dominic's practically a neighbor of mine yet (as of this post) I still haven't met him in person. The first time came across his work, I was instantly hit with the simultaneity of awe, amusement, reverence and bitter envy. His meaty photographs were part of a solo show at Bambi, a local and trendy gallery. It was one of those moments when a artist, like me, sees these photographs one can't help but immediately understand the simple genius in the work. While my eyes were still taking in the fresh beauty I thought "someone beat you to it, Mike. Damn, that's a great idea". Months later, I recognized his work instantly when I opened up the first official issue of Meatpaper magazine and saw one of his states of meat pieces. I had to contact him later, and thank him for inspiring me to submit my own images to that super meaty magazine. More recently, Ive found Dominic's work displayed in a fine art printed poster in Old City, Philadelphia's Silicon gallery and his series of photos, 'The United Steaks of America', have been featured in the Huffington Post. Yeah, he's been busy.

Much of his work takes common culture subject into the hight art world via a high-end fashion photographic language.
You can check out more of Dominic's work on his own website: http://www.episcopo.com/

William Pettit -Painter, Poet, Humble Lover of Food & Music

2009-08-06T12:50:00.020-04:00

William Pettit first contacted me in 2006. I love that gmail archives all my conversations. Our communications revealed we had quite a lot on common. We are both native to Philadelphia, we're alumns of Tyler School of Art there's our love of Italy and of course, MEAT. While one can relate to how he isolates his subjects to focus on the abstraction within representation, his work takes on a richness that seems clearly linked to his admitted "looking at renaissance style still-lives ".

Here's some of his earlier works from around that time:

As we've maintained contact through the years I've watched William's paintings of meat cross-connect to his other bodies of work, no pun intended, as abstraction has merged with his meat.
These are from the fall of 2008:

Poured hearts. 20 x 30 cm each, oil on canvas. (layered, liquid)

CELESTIAL BODIES. Paintings 2008

"I dream the Body Cosmic,
From Muscle and Bone to Tissue and Liquid. Structure dissolves, like an Ortolan’s.
From Earthly Subsistence to Biological Decomposition and Spiritual Transformation. A Zero in Limbo.
From the Storm the Chaos the Eruption which, ordered, Formed life. Structure returns, like Ice’s.
Of Celestial and Terrestrial Bodies, Space & Transcendence.
COSMOS. Ghosts of Infinity." -Bill

5 x 7cm (about 2 x 3 ") each, oil on stretched canvas. (micro stained smears).

below is from a series - Celestial Bodies, Part II. The Eight Planets Mon Sep 15, 2008

As a father, painter, teacher, poet and song writer, he keeps pretty busy obviously. You can find some of William's other work online as well as his art work.

* here's a link to his work featured on the great site: EAT ME DAILY.

Jessica Lewis - Sculptor, photographer and installation artist

2009-07-30T13:14:00.006-04:00

Jessica just sent me new images of some of her meat related work. She explained that her site is under construction at the moment but sent an informal statement with some images. I like the connection to the market in her work. If you visit our flickr account, you'll find connections with John Wolfer's work. Soon to be featured.

Jessica :"These are digital prints of meats that I sculpted and cast from actual meat. They were then painted and placed within an environment I also constructed that references supermarket environments. The meats look almost identical from a distance but upon closer examination are slightly unique. I am fascinated by the color and and texture as well as repulsed. This setting is also the way in which most Americans find their meat products. We can buy it with the same regard we buy shampoo or soup and it looks the same everywhere. In the one with the pig heads, I made casts of a real pig head I bought in a grocery store. I've always thought it was interesting that the closer the meat looks to its original source the more put off people generally are. "

featured items in our meat art shop!

2009-06-30T22:42:00.000-04:00

help an artist out, meat art makes great gifts!

Mike Geno's meat paintings are available as archival prints as well!

Check out his whole Etsy shop or, just order this amazing bacon heart he designed on etsy or even here :

"bacon love" is printed on 8x10" epson paper and printed with archival pigment based inks that will not fade.

archival print, signed & titled by the artist
print size: 8 x 10"
image size: 5 x 5"

It's yours for $20 + s&h. paypal ($25) to buy.geno@gmail.com and include name and address.

see detail here

welcome meat artists

2009-06-22T15:12:00.000-04:00

Welcome artists(and meat artist fans). this site has just been born.

I cant believe there's no site or forum for such a thing?

The world loves meat art.

*meat prints available in my etsy shop

If you'd like the join this site, just email me at : meatartists@yahoo.com and let me know how to link you to the site. I'll add you to the list of artists, I can add your pictures to our flickr account that feeds our slide show and also I can add you as a featured artist.

This site can be a place to communicate and for posting announcements of new work or exhibitions. Send info and/or links relating to meat/art please.

To start us off, I'll post a few images of my most recent work. Ive painted meat for years but recently focusing more on bacon. Above is a print I designed in photoshop "bacon love". Below are some photos of some recent oil pastel drawings of bacon.

"one pound of bacon" 30x22 oil pastel on Rives BFK, mike geno

studio wall - small bacon drawings by mike geno

join

2009-06-01T20:18:00.002-04:00

meatartists@gmail.com

As an artist group focusing on meat as subject, meat as muse, it's always fortunate to engage with other like-minded (meat oriented) individuals.

You are welcome to follow, comment and even join the site.

If you would like to just be added to our mailing list (*I suspect when we have something to announce, like exhibitions etc., we could email you) please email us.

If you are an artist that works with meat as either a subject and/or medium and you are interested in becoming a member of meatartists resource site, please email us and if you would like, send some information and if available, links to your work as a meat artist.

Also, if you have any questions, just... that's right, email!

Pass the word too, if you know someone that'd like us. We like being liked and it may help us achieve all of our mission points.

member pages

2009-06-01T20:00:00.008-04:00

Click on the meat artist for more images and information.

If you'd like to contribute or join the list, please email: meatartists@yahoo.com

mission

2009-06-01T03:00:00.000-04:00

As a painter of meat for some time now, I have met a number of artists both varied and interesting. The commonality of meat as subject or medium is often compelling, seductive and some may try and argue, repulsive (I have not been repulsed yet though, but surely it must happen somewhere, right? eh).

This site's mission is to attempt the following:

to encourage, establish and foster communication among meat artists and an audience.
to display and exchange images and information of meat artists online and perhaps become a resource.
to initiate and facilitate potential exhibitions and collaborative exchanges.
to make each member an enormous success so they can buy and sell all their enemies as well as make all their friends jealous.

*this list is not in order of priority