delecTABLE / Food-tography
delecTABLE: The Fine Art of Dining; Food-tography
Art Students League of Denver
200 Grant Street, Denver, CO 80203
February 21–March 30, 2025
Admission: free
Review by Paloma Jimenez
When we encounter Pad Thai sliding around in a warped plastic takeout container, a supermarket sandwich preserved in several layers of cling wrap, and nachos steaming inside a styrofoam tomb, it can be easy to forget that the food we eat comes from the soil. The concurrent exhibitions delecTABLE: The Fine Art of Dining and Food-tography at the Art Students League of Denver (ASLD) serve up an abundant selection of punchy photographs and finely crafted ceramic tableware to remind us that enjoying a meal is one of Earth’s greatest delights. Natural cycles and organic shapes appear throughout, balanced by playful pops of colorful work.
An installation view of the exhibitions delecTABLE: The Fine Art of Dining and Food-tography at the Art Students League of Denver. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Two works by Kathleen Laurie: Oval Lidded Jar (left) and Canister-Dotted (right), both stoneware/soda fired to Cone 10. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
The photographic medium’s rapid capture of a moment amplifies the comparatively slow process of creating ceramics. Naturally, the passage of time, and its effect on physical matter, emerges as a major theme in many of the works on view. The craggy, layered surfaces and variegated colors of Kathleen Laurie’s soda-fired Oval Lidded Jar and Cannister-Dotted radiate with mystery, like topographic time capsules from an ancient desert civilization.
Dietlinde DuPlessis, Teabag & Tomato, lumen print. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Dietlinde DuPlessis also collaborates with unpredictable elements in Teabag & Tomato. The lumen print captures the slippery essence of its subjects. Embryonic shapes float in dark space, destined for the compost heap.
Kyna McDowell, Rotten Apples, archival pigment print. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Mary Chambers, Mycelium, porcelain. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Organic matter reliably marks the passage of time, as demonstrated by Kyna McDowell’s photograph Rotten Apples. Wormy and wrinkled apples in varying stages of decay tumble towards the viewer, but the overall effect is unexpectedly inviting. Repulsion and revelation go hand in hand; after all, the death of one thing often feeds the life of another. Mary Chambers nods towards this process in the frosty blue porcelain plate Mycelium, where delicate lines of a fungal network sprawl across the surface and a trompe l'oeil mushroom emerges along the edge.
Caitlin Ming, Eclipse Tumblers (set of 4), ceramic/porcelain. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Hillit Wahlberg, Floating Service Platter, ceramic. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Other works draw inspiration from the ever-changing celestial cycles. Caitlin Ming’s set of four Eclipse Tumblers captures the optical difficulty of witnessing the rare astronomical event. Nearby, the dark reflective glaze on Hillit Wahlberg’s Floating Service Platter transforms the light in the room into a nocturnal event. The oblong simplicity of the form leaves room for poetic thought, like staring into a pond to catch a glimpse of the moon’s distorted light.
Samantha Foster, Fruit Bowl, ceramic. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Donna Altieri, Nescafé Red Chair with Oranges, photograph framed in oilcloth. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Another common thread throughout the exhibition arises from the unexpected application of colorful patterns. Samantha Foster’s nerikomi (multiple colors of clay) Fruit Bowl holds a scattering of wavy flowers in neon popsicle hues. Reminiscent of a holographic sticker sheet, the simplicity mesmerizes. Donna Altieri celebrates the sculptural variety of a Mexican restaurant table setting in her photograph Nescafé Red Chair with Oranges. A brightly colored mat board extends the tablecloth into the gallery space.
Count Basye, Image Poetry, deadstock slide mounts on steel with magnets. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Kait Arndt, Green, Yellow Blue Grid Teapot, ceramic. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Saturated color also pours out of Count Basye’s collection of magnetic, deadstock slide mounts. Image Poetry takes a Petri dish approach to food photography. The small grid abstracts the subjects into alluring visual appetizers. Around the corner, Kait Arndt colorfully disrupts the grid on the surface of expertly constructed teapots, while the more distressed polka dot vases by Robin Bryany exude the playful appeal of a well-loved Twister mat.
Robin Bryant, Round Polka Dots Flower Vase with Red Roses (left) and Oval Polka Dots Flower Vase with Red Roses (right), clay. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Two works by Jui Ling Shih: Don’t Take My Carrot (left) and The Contented Cat King (right), both wood fired ceramics. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Figurative humor makes an appearance in the work of many participating artists. The ferocity, unusual shape, and disturbingly large teeth of Jui Ling Shih’s rabbit in Don’t Take My Carrot prevent it from entering the Easter cutesy category, as ceramic rabbits are wont to do.
Amy Manning, First Contact (salt and pepper set), ceramic. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
Salt and pepper sets offer ample space for comedic pairings, like the curious alien and apprehensive astronaut in Amy Manning’s First Contact. A scaly blob reaches out a tentacle towards a stylized figure in a spacesuit, hoping to form a tabletop friendship.
Daryl Grace Newmark, Chicken/Egg, archival pigment print. Image courtesy of the artist.
Daryl Grace Newmark highlights another ubiquitous duo: a plucked chicken carcass using its meager wing to embrace an egg. Chicken/Egg combines formal studio portrait style lighting with a Lynchian sense of humor. The tender red nub of a foot repels—an unusual occurrence in the realm of food photography.
John Bonath, Bootie Call, archival pigment print. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
A pear also poses for a voluptuous close-up in John Bonath’s Bootie Call and an alert snail, echoing the fruit’s rounded curves, peers out from the tip of the stem. Using the visual language of Northern Renaissance still lifes towards a cheekier end, the photograph reminds us that finding beauty in the world doesn’t always have to be so serious.
A view of the title wall and works in the exhibitions delecTABLE: The Fine Art of Dining and Food-tography at the Art Students League of Denver. Image by Paloma Jimenez.
delecTABLE and Food-tography display an incredible range of artistic perspectives expressed through two of the most popular art forms. The impulse to celebrate food remains closely linked to the human story. Stop by the ASLD before March 30th to elevate your own meals and walls; you’ll find everything from rustic tea cups to saturated photographs of rainbow-sprinkled confections.
Paloma Jimenez is an artist, writer, and teacher. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and has been featured in international publications. She received her BA from Vassar College and her MFA from Parsons School of Design.
