12 Times Food Became Art

Written By: Katherine Plueger

We’re doing something a little different this month. In honor of International Artist Day on October 25th, we’re showcasing art inspired by or made from… food.

Thanks to imaginative chefs, social media, and televised competitions, most of us have been exposed to cooking and baking that rises to the level of “art form.” Today, we ogle “food porn,” and marvel at the masterpieces created on programs like Top Chef and The Great British Baking Show. In these instances, color, structure, presentation, creativity, and skill are akin to something you’d experience in a gallery or museum. Here, food masters demonstrate their artistic flair. But what does it look like when artists demonstrate their vision for food?

We invite you to stroll through our “clickable” interactive gallery and take in 12 of our favorite examples:

Magic Milk

Magic Milk

A beautiful science experiment with milk

Art museum dinner

Art Museum Dinner

Gallery dining on food inspired by Japanese art

Demogorgon sculpted from chocolate

Stranger Things en Chocolat

Demogorgon chocolate sculpture

Bird made from cutlery

Cutlery Creatures

Upcycled utensil animal sculptures

Wrapped chocolate wall

Wrapped Chocolate Wall

An edible art installation

Jane Austen biscuits

Jane Austen Biscuits

Elaborate cookie decorating

Bike sculpture made from oranges

Produce Sculpture

Fruit and vegetable creations

Lion painted with ice cream

Ice Cream Art

Melted ice cream steps in for paint

Cooking with LACMA

Cooking With LACMA

Art-inspired recipes

Dragon carved from an avocado

Avocado Dragon

Meticulously carved fruit

Sampuru

Shokuhin Sampuru

Life-sized food models used in displays

Ketchup bottle drawn by AI

Draw Ketchup

A.I.-generated “art” based on word prompts

In summary, we believe art is another opportunity for brand expression – a new way to provoke thought, conversation, and awe – and we challenge you to create museum-worthy moments that have the potential to shake up campaigns, content calendars and events.

Katherine Plueger

Vice President, Strategy & Insights

Katherine Plueger conducts category, competitive and consumer research to develop the actionable insights that lead to better strategy for our clients.

Katherine Plueger, Vice President, Strategy & Insights

[1] “Experimental Eating: Can Food Be Art?”, Luxury Defined (Christie’s International), 2/12/18
[2] “Food is an old theme of art. Now the reverse is true too”, The Economist, 5/01/15
[3] “The Art of Mia’s Dinner in the Night Museum”, Mpls St Paul magazine, 7/07/22
[4] “You’re supposed to eat these cookies. But would you?”, The Washington Post, 1/27/22
[5] “Master Fruit Carving Artist Creates Sensational Food Art with Avocados”, mymodernmet.com, 10/18/21
[6] “World-Renowned Pastry Chef Creates Extraordinary Chocolate Sculptures”, mymodernmet.com, 7/07/21
[7] “Food Sculptures Made with Fruits and Vegetables by Dan Cretu”, thisiscolossal.com, 11/05/13
[8] “Faux Feast,” The New York Times Magazine, 4/20/22
[9] “Meet the Artist Who Makes Creatures Out of Cutlery”, Atlas Obscura, 2/14/18
[10] “This Artist Paints with Ice-Cream Instead of Paint”, Bored Panda, 2014
[11] “Heinz got A.I. to draw ketchup and this is what happened”, Ad Age, 7/26/22

Image Credits
Magic Milk: Chana Favors
Wrapped Chocolate Wall: Luxury Defined
Cooking With LACMA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Art Museum Dinner: Mpls St Paul Magazine
Jane Austen Biscuits: Ella Hawkins
Avocado Dragon: My Modern Met
Stranger Things en Chocolat: Amaury Guichon
Produce Sculpture: Colossal
Shokuhin Sampuru: New York Times Magazine
Cutlery Creatures: Atlas Obscura
Ice Cream Art: Bored Panda
Draw Ketchup: AdAge