Drawing on the history of the original Gasthof in 2002, it is particularly interesting to explore how food as a medium of artistic practice has changed over the past twenty years. In light of accelerating climate change, successive crises of forced displacement and the current cost of living crisis, the production and sharing of food has arguably taken on a more acute political and social significance.
This development is especially visible in Frankfurt, where in recent years diverse initiatives have proliferated addressing ecological, political and social problems through growing, cooking and sharing food. The ideas and motivations behind such projects can also be linked to a new preoccupation with food in contemporary art.
Gasthof therefore represents an opportunity to take stock of the changing status of food as a medium of artistic practice. Is making dinner still an act that contains radical artistic possibilities? If so, where is the line between the art of eating, and the eating of art? And in a wider perspective: what role can art play in challenging destructive global food systems?
With that in mind, we, the Curatorial Studies Class of 2021, launched the open call “Eating of Art / Art of Eating“ at Städelschule and the international Fine Art classes invited to Gasthof. To create a dialogue between the diverse works of 12 artists, we developed the exhibition program THREE COURSE MENU as a metaphor for a rapidly changing display.
To assuage your cravings between each course during the day, we are serving up treats and tidbits in the form of our events program. During TEA TIME we supplement our main meals with other kinds of nourishment and refreshment: talks and performances supply the sugar and calories necessary to survive contemporary city life, and more importantly, satisfy the whims of a sweet tooth.
Three Course Menu—the exhibition project of the Curatorial Studies class of 2021—will take place during the Open House of Gasthof 2022.
Please visit www.fffriedrich.de for program details. (Short term changes of the program will be communicated on the following instagram channels: https://www.instagram.com/curatorialstudies2021/ and https://www.instagram.com/fffriedrich/)