NYAB Event - Peter Anton “Foodhist Temple”

Peter Anton “Foodhist Temple”

Unix Gallery

[Image: Peter Anton "Dawning Assortment" (2014) Mixed Media. 48 x 36 x 10 in.]

This event has ended.

“THE FOODHIST TEMPLE,” a sanctuary of food sculptures by artist Peter Anton will be presented at the UNIX Gallery New York.

“The temple will be a place of meditation, peace, and happiness – a shrine devoted to the celebration of food and life,” says Anton, whose larger-than-life mixed-media sculptures of delectable sweets and savory foods will be displayed at various altars stationed throughout the gallery. Visitors will be asked to remove their shoes upon entering. Pillows and rugs will be positioned on the floor. “Believers” can relax, reflect, and achieve a heightened awareness of the importance of food and all of its pleasures.

“FOODHIST TEMPLE” will include Anton’s monumental-sized, hyper-realistic boxes of chocolates, donuts, cakes, pizza, bacon, fried eggs, sushi, and other craved food items. His sculptures are crafted from carefully selected and manipulated materials, including resin, metal, wood, clay, and acrylic and oil paints.

“With heightened color and exaggerated forms, my work promises the unattainable in life: ultimate satisfaction,” says Anton. “Food evokes a sense of well-being and is an important part of the special memories in our lives. I like to create art that can lure, charm, tease, disarm, and surprise. The sensual nature of the works stirs desire, passion, obsession, and indulgence. I activate the hunger people have for the things that give them pleasure.”

Peter Anton is also known for his installation SUGAR & GOMORRAH that he presented at Art Basel Miami in December of 2012. The interactive sculpture was the world’s first art installation where the viewer rode through an exhibition aboard an amusement ride. The immersive exhibition took visitors on an actual roller coaster ride winding and snaking through a destructed city with tumbling pillars, fire and skeletons juxtaposed with larger-than-life sculptures of sugary treats and nearly nude live models. The ride was a visually stimulating experience, challenging the viewer to fall into temptations of food and the flesh. Viewers encountered this wonderland while Lesley Gore’s 1965 hit Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows played in the background. “I wanted to shake people up, to have them experience art in a very different way,” said Anton. “I wanted to go beyond the usual ‘art on walls’ experience to create a context more engaging, more involving.”