Since the 1930s, numerous artists have used the simple act of sharing food and drink to advance aesthetic goals and to foster critical engagement with the culture of their moment. These artist-orchestrated meals can offer a radical form of hospitality that punctures everyday experience, using the meal as a means to shift perceptions and spark encounters that aren’t always possible in a fast-moving and segmented society.

Feast surveys this practice for the first time, presenting the work of more than thirty artists and artist groups who have transformed the shared meal into a compelling artistic medium. The exhibition examines the history of the artist-orchestrated meal, assessing its roots in early-twentieth century European avant-garde art, its development over the past decades within Western art, and its current global ubiquity. The exhibition will introduce new artists and contextualize their work in relation to other influential artists, from the Italian Futurists and Gordon Matta-Clark to Marina Abramović and Rirkrit Tiravanija. Feast addresses the radical hospitality embodied by these artists and the social, commercial, and political structures that surround the experience of eating together.

Join the feast and discover first hand the ways in which artists are using shared experiences with food and drink to spark new encounters with the world around us. As part of the exhibition, SITE presents an array of participatory projects, meals, and salons. Highlights include The Act of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art, by Tom Marioni, and a series of one-on-one meals with artist Lee Mingwei, held after hours within a sculptural installation at SITE Santa Fe. Also, the winner of SITE’s community fundraising dinner, SPREAD 4.0, held on October 11, 2013—Axle Contemporary’s The Royal Bread Show—will be included in the exhibition.

Feast includes art, documentary materials, and new public projects by Marina Abramović and Ulay, Sonja Alhäuser, Mary Ellen Carroll, Fallen Fruit, Theaster Gates, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, InCUBATE, The Italian Futurists, Mella Jaarsma, Alison Knowles, Suzanne Lacy, Lee Mingwei, Laura Letinsky, Tom Marioni, Gordon Matta-Clark, Mildred’s Lane, Julio César Morales and Max La Rivière-Hedrick,motiroti, National Bitter Melon Council, Ana Prvacki, Sudsiri Pui-Ock, Michael Rakowitz, Ayman Ramadan, Red76, David Robbins, Allen Ruppersberg, Bonnie Sherk, Barbara T. Smith, Daniel Spoerri, and Rirkrit Tiravanija.

Organized by the Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago.

THANK YOU

Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art is organized by the Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago. The exhibition is curated by Stephanie Smith, Smart Museum Deputy Director and Chief Curator. Feast is made possible by an Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award. Generous major support has also been provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Chicago Community Trust, Helen Zell, the Chauncey and Marion Deering McCormick Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, the Richard and Mary L. Gray Foundation, the University of Chicago's Arts Council, and Janis Kanter and Tom McCormick.

FEAST | Hotel Santa Fe

Savor the FEAST at Hotel Santa Fe, The Hacienda and Spa

SITE Santa Fe invites you to visit the City Different and experience FEAST in depth. Indulge your favorite cultural sensations and enjoy the hospitality of our hotel partner, Hotel Santa Fe, The Hacienda and Spa.

Package includes:

• 1- night stay in a Picuris Jr. Suite
• Feast Dinner for Two in Amaya Restaurant
• Exhibit entry to the museum and a private tour with a SITE Guide

Package Price starting at $269.00 plus taxes and $18 .00 A.R.T./Resort Fee. For availability call 855-369-4447

For Hotel Santa Fe Bookings, click here.

For Hacienda Bookings, click here.