Image of the 1978 conceptual piece “Iain Baxter as an open faced sandwich.”Image of the 1978 conceptual piece “Iain Baxter as an open faced sandwich.”

Exhibit places food at intersection of history, culture and identity

A reception and a panel discussion will celebrate the opening of an exhibition by visual arts professor emeritus Iain Baxter& this weekend at the Art Gallery of Windsor.

Works displayed as “Baxter&Food” make up a slice of the Sandwich Project, which curator Jaclyn Meloche describes as an exploration of the entangled relationships between place, history and identity vis-à-vis food culture in Windsor from the 1950s to the present. Reflecting upon urban renewal and historical preservation, she says, the project also employs food as a vehicle through which to map history, challenge gender stereotypes and survey the economics of an era.

Baxter&’s conceptual art considers notions of wonder and the ordinary through mundane food, says Meloche.

“In comparison to 17th Century Baroque still-life painting in which food was an economic and class signifier to 20th Century critiques on the commodification of food in American Pop Art, this body of work deconstructs the traditions of still-life to reflect new contemporary material engagements with food in art,” she says.

A Fridays Live! Reception will celebrate the exhibit’s opening, at 7 p.m. May 26. Admission is $15, free to gallery members.

A panel will discuss “How is food metaphorical?” at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 27. Meloche will moderate the conversation between Baxter& and other contributors to the Sandwich Project:

  • business professor Vincent Georgie, co-curator of “Food and Film;”
  • sculptor Anna Frlan, a featured artist in “Food, Feminism and Kitchen Culture;”
  • curator Theresa Bembnister of the Akron Art Museum, organizer of “Snack;”
  • and David McNamara, who has 35 years' experience in the produce business.

A hot dog lunch will precede the discussion. Learn more and buy tickets on the gallery’s website.

The Sandwich Project will remain on display through October 1. The Art Gallery of Windsor is located at 401 Riverside Drive West.