FEAST YOUR EYES

January 9 through February 24, 2000

In addition to owning Nora, the nation's first certified organic restaurant, Ms. Pouillon has a background in Interior Design and a penchant for collecting fine art. She was enthusiastic about selecting work for Feast Your Eyes, ultimately selecting 28 pieces from over 300 submissions. Artists from across the United States are included in the exhibition, with media ranging from watercolor to sculpture to photography. Many of the works show fruits and vegetables in their natural, just-harvested state. Pouillon's selections reveal the juror's interest in earthy, organic forms and subjects, as well as works that are formally well executed. Pouillon's culinary expertise is evident in compositions that enhance the texture, color, and even taste of the food depicted. Some pieces were so skillfully painted and designed that they, according to Pouillon, "made the mouth water." Pomegranates, tomatoes, and rich chocolate cake, among other items, tantalize the viewer's taste buds.

Best-in-Show was awarded to New York artist Amy Reichman, whose photograph Hot Tamale is, "subtly cool and relaxing even though the subject matter is hot and spicy," according to the juror. She was also intrigued by the work of Northern Virginia artist Sheep Jones whose work Hidden by Degrees is a cross-section of rich soil. In the oil collage, the viewer is able to see vegetation above and below the topsoil, so that the horizon line is literally the place where the earth ends and the sky begins. For Pouillon, Jones' work is an entirely original "expression of the growing process as a landscape technique." Other works include more serious statements such as Eating Disorder #12 by Ohio artist Nathan Cox that manipulates the standard place setting into something frightful, and the surrealist photography of Edward Pardee. His Unbreakable Egg shows a raw yolk spilling out of a neatly dissected lemon rind.