Art in Food and Photography: From the Global Ceramics Trade to Instagram-age Food Porn

In the span of a decade and a half since Instagram’s founding, the social media platform has propelled images to the forefront of communications, where food is one of the most popular subjects. “Camera eats first” has become a cultural mainstay, and restaurants and influencers alike have gravitated toward and cashed in on the dramatic, atmospheric, and pretty presentations of food.

This phenomenon is not dissimilar to what happened in a different time and age, when such fine foods could only be enjoyed by the elite class, who prided themselves with the best taste—for both the food and the wares the food is served in, either for lavish parties or everyday meals. The various ceramic wares on view in Asia Society Museum’s ”“(Re)Generations” and “Imperial Treasures” exhibitions, and the exhibition “Monstrous Beauty” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, are examples of how global trade, imperialism, and the exchange of aesthetics all culminated in our current enjoyment and obsession of food content that is not necessarily edible.

Join Esther M. Choi, artist and author of Le Corbuffet, Iris Moon, curator of Monstrous Beauty, and Natasha Pickowicz, dessert chef and author of More than Cake, in a conversation moderated by Kelly Ma, Curator of Learning & Outreach at Asia Society Museum, to explore more into the world of art in food and its presentation.