Eat: An Art Space About Food

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Cornography

(October 16, 2009—August 20, 2010)


Once a venerable foodstuff of the Americas, corn has become the symbol of the transformation of farm into factory - and of a system that uses subsidies, promises of higher yields and the threat of bankruptcy to seduce farmers into a life of chemical dependency to supply the vast quantity of raw materials to satisfy our lust for cheap, sweet, highly-manufactured foods. Through the wood sculpture of Nutt, Cornography celebrates the heritage of hyperbole and idealism of farming and gardening while questioning whether the prevailing methods of food production are moral, healthful, or sustainable.


Nutt was born in a small town nestled in the cornfields of north central Iowa and came of age on the cornbread, hominy grits, and corn liquor of the Deep South. The artist creates furniture and sculpture in his studio near Nashville, Tennessee. His meticulous craftsmanship is infused with a sense of freedom and spontaneity drawn from his early work in painting, assemblage and improvised music. He employs a wide variety of wood working techniques including turning, carving, traditional joinery and steam bending as well as oil painting and lacquering techniques to works that often riff on themes drawn from the garden. Nutt’s imaginative works have been exhibited in many group and solo exhibitions and can be found in many major museum collections as well as in private homes and corporate collections.


Read a review of the exhibition!

Post-Gazette, Sculptor Craig Nutt's work provides food for thought

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Given SCC’s location in the Strip District, Pittsburgh’s marketplace, we use this space to feature artists who focus on food in their work. As with our gallery exhibitions, these installations reveal the technical and creative processes artists use to make their art. They also relate to at least one of four key themes that inform all our programming:


Urban Experience—art reflecting the unusual materials, culture and energy of the urban neighborhood.


Art and the Environment—work revealing the connections between contemporary art and nature.


Art and Process—contemporary crafts highlighting the techniques, inspirations and unique visions underlying the creation of each artist’s work.


Crossing Cultural Boundaries—concepts challenging audiences to expand their thinking through multicultural and non-mainstream art.

 
 

United State of America: Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Crappiness, 2008

flame worked glass and mixed media installation

10’ x 15’


PAST

The United State of America: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Crappiness (January 18 - August 29, 2009)


This installation, highlighting the work of internationally recognized glass artist Matt Eskuche, features items of consumer waste made from flame-worked glass, paper and cardboard. In his work, the artist addresses issues of individual wastefulness and irresponsibility. To bring attention to his concern, this installation will evolve over the length of its exhibition here, gradually becoming more and more cluttered with handmade trash. Eskuche's exceptional skills as a contemporary studio artist are evident in the convincing and accurate creation of his mixed media garbage.


Eskuche currently has his studio at the Brew House in Pittsburgh’s South Side. He has demonstrated and exhibited his craft through out the US as well as abroad in Japan and Australia, and his work can be found in the permanent collections of several museums including the Museum of Arts and Design in New York and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.


Art and the Environment Gallery Talk

March 12, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.

The SCC hosted a talk led by Matt Eskuche and including Lori Beck, artist and founding member of Ohio Valley Creative Energy (OVEC) and Anny YuShan Huang, PhD candidate in Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. The talk focused on new uses of renewable energy to power art studios and educational centers and life cycle assessment of waste and recycling policies.


Cooking With Sticks

An Installation by Tom Sarver

(June 27, 2008 - January 10, 2009)


Tom Sarver explores creative approaches to cooking in the wilderness; the installation features an outdoor diorama and a video cooking demonstration.


Sarver’s work spans a variety of media including installation art, sculpture, painting, video and performance art. Driven by his philosophy of “artist as inventor,” His work is characterized by low-tech gadgetry and he often includes experiments in everyday living in his array of art installations and performances.  A self-taught puppeteer, and heavily influenced by Outsider Art, Sarver has organized and performed in Pittsburgh’s Black Sheep Puppet Festival.  Political and social activism, common in grass roots puppetry across the county, has become prominent in his projects.


Cooking with Sticks installation at SCC

Flying Vegetables, Cornography and Agricraft


Exhibiting artist Craig Nutt presented a gallery talk on Friday, February 5, 2010 at 5:30 pm in conjunction with Cornography. To see the lecture click below!