The National Museum of Art and the Museum of Latin American Art come together to present “Festin de Sabores. Banquete Mexicano” an exhibition that takes on the pleasure of food and cuisine for the second time. In 1993, this concept was first approached when the National Homage to José Agustín Arrieta (1803-1874) took place. Thirty years later, we get to explore one of the most widely represented concepts in art since classical antiquity from a different perspective.
Genre painting, from which still life derives, was developed in the Netherlands in the 17th century as a significant innovation in this region and later spread to most of Europe. Its scenes depict everyday life, where food, kitchen, and dining room utensils are treated with great detail, with the composition as its protagonist. These artworks were part of the dining rooms as a decorative element, with wealthy families being the primary consumers of this art.
In New Spain, the genre evolved into still life and paintings of castes, showing the new and exotic foods - sometimes accompanied by characters from different social sectors, in markets, banquets, or table settings - , which gave rise to other artistic languages, far from predominant religious images. The themes continued into the 19th century through the Academy of San Carlos, adapting European examples to local tastes.
Still life was innovative in describing uses, customs, ideas, and values. It has also been a way of experimentation that, on many other occasions, had also become trivial by being only a decorative element. However, its renewal is constant, throughout generations, as reflection, analysis, and sense of belonging.
The artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries were eager to address the new trends and products of the capitalist and commercial era. They took up this search, combining fruits and vegetables with traditions and festivities, canned and industrialized foods, desserts, and new consumption spaces viewed through the prism of the avant-garde and contemporary reflections.
The exhibition is composed of 4 central themes: Market and harvest; The intimacy of cuisine; Still life; Modern cuisine; the exhibition concludes with a scenographic installation using furniture, pieces, and dining room objects, which have a festive character to exalt the joy and color of our Mexican craftsmanship, made by Alfredo Marín.
The selection of works includes pieces from the 18th century to the present day, through a cultural overview of cuisine and its different habits and representations. The exhibition shows unidentified authors, signature authors, and emerging artists and mainly comprises pictorial works.
