Dear Reader,

Having a food-themed issue in an art magazine seemed a little out of the ordinary when the topic came up. Immediately visions of sugarplums and Wayne Thiebaud cakes came to mind. Then luscious spreads of dead pheasants and fruit bowls followed. Soft sculptures of hamburgers and BLTs stitched by the Oldenburgs popped up. Artists have been working with food for centuries, and still are. And why not?

Oftentimes art, food and culture are lumped together. If you’re a foodie, then chances are you are an art enthusiast too. Yes, these are two of the finest things in life. But they are not necessarily only for the elite?

All cultures enjoy food at all levels. Hopefully, this can be said about art as well. But food is necessary, and art isn’t, or is it? We went right away to LA Times food critic Jonathan Gold to address these burning questions. I asked Gold if he’d be willing to visit some galleries and have some lunch to discuss this epicurean phenomena; a feast for the eyes and stomach. Being no philistine, Gold immediately accepted the invitation. Follow Gold and me while we take in DTLA galleries and food trucks and ponder the meaning of art and food

Does food relate directly to class? There are people that are content with Two-Buck Chuck, and some that scorn the very notion of cheap wine. Christopher Michno interviews Christopher Reynolds whose art delves deeply into the subject of how class and food relate. Other than the obvious, how might one be able to afford caviar and lobster over a plate of beans and rice? Then there’s Narsiso Martinez, whose cardboard sculptures get closer to the source; migrant farm workers who pick produce at paltry wages for those of us that have the luxury to lounge around and read art magazines.

Food is definitely fodder for artists. It represents a whole cornucopia of metaphors and philosophies. It’s rife with sensuality and practicality. Or is it just confection, like Thiebaud’s desserts, whom columnist Mary Woronov ponders? Filmmaker Luis Buñuel, who made dining central to many of his films, is the subject of Skot Armstrong’s Bunker Vision column. And the deep dark world of cannibalism creeps into the picture with video game artist Jason Gottlieb.

The art world can’t get enough of food, we eventually discovered. Just a small example of artists currently working with depictions of glazed doughnuts, corn on the cob, gingerbread houses and toucans and pizzas, fill our centerfold curated by Annabel Osberg. Feast your eyes on the artists she foraged for her Summer Picnic Spread.

Besides the visual eye-candy of this issue, we think you’ll enjoy what we came up with after realizing that food is as relevant to art as it is inescapable in life. Our cover artist Ry Rocklen sums it up nicely, “Who doesn’t like pizza?”