Gallerygoers hungry for the latest in contemporary art are getting a taste of it. Literally. A resurgence in food-related art projects is whetting appetites in New York. It started last summer with Chinese performance artist Song Dong inviting his audience to gorge themselves on his sliced prosciutto, roast pork and chocolate landscapes at PaceWildensteins West 25th Street branch. By fall many of the art set were well on their way to cutting more Rubenesque figures.

For the October opening of Performa ’09, art aficionado, writer and hostess extraordinaire Jennifer Rubell threw Creation, a massive feast inspired by the Bible story, with chocolate Jeff Koons bunnies and a ton each of ice, peanuts and pork ribs. A few days later, also for Performa, the Dutch designer Marije Vogelzang staged Pasta Sauna, in which visitors relaxed in the steam billowing from bowls of noodles. In November haute design met haute cuisine in "Cake Happening" at Haunch of Venison, for which five artists, including Leandro Erlich and Mickalene Thomas, teamed up with top pastry chefs to produce tasty trompe l’oeils, among them a replica of Mies van der Rohes 1929 Barcelona couch, which attendees devoured. Then, for three Sundays in November, the painter Will Cotton transformed Partners & Spade gallery into a bakery selling real versions of the confections he depicts.

The partners behind "Cake Happening" — Kreemart, dedicated to letting "artists explore dessert as a medium," and American Patrons of the Tate — are planning a more elaborate edition for Paris in June. Rubell, who has merged art and nourishment at her parents’ Miami museum, promises a future gastro-aesthetic project too. "Food is taking a more central role in our culture," she says. "It also happens to make an ideal medium for ephemeral art."

"Food As Art: Is This a Trend?" originally appeared in the January 2010 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's January 2010 Table of Contents.