This amazingly realistic banana split painting by artist Mary Ellen Johnson caught my eye over at What’s up! trouvaillesdujour for more than a few reasons. For one, my son has been begging to have a banana split for weeks, and I’m wondering, Does anyone actually eat banana splits? Or know where to get a good one? I digress…
Back to the paintings. These caught my eye not only as a mere celebration of the hands of Ms. Johnson, and the technical skill required to make such paintings, but for someone (aka me) who spends a greater part of the day obsessing over food in one way or another (eating it, thinking about eating it, abstaining from eating it, shopping, cooking, preparing, sharing, etc) these are a keen study on the relationship we have with food and the power it holds over us. The paintings are large in size and convey a strong message, not one of culinary delights, but of decadence, gluttony and hunger. I’m at once hungry, sort of (definitely for more of her work) while thinking about greed and starvation. The foods are unabashedly American, drippy, gooey and sticky and verge on the disgusting. Should anything we eat really be this shiny? The shrimp cocktail reminds me of a restaurant I used to go to with my grandparents where tuxedo-clad waiters made caesar salad table side while Sinatra crooned in the background. Food is representative of time, culture and wealth and Mary Ellen Johnson has tapped in to something that is so simple and yet so complex, so beautiful and so sad. These are some serious eye candy, and offer some real food for thought.
All Images, copyright © Mary Ellen Johnson
