Gabrielle Penfold has a great job. For her most recent exhibition Oyster Oyster, staged at Noosa's CLO Studios in that bit of 2021 that wasn't a total disaster - February - she created a whole wall of paintings dedicated to everything that you can pull out of the ocean and turn into a meal. "I went into this deep dive of eating and sourcing all these different fish... Every fish I painted, I had a story behind," Penfold recalls; barramundi, mackerel, garfish. "I feel like I'm very lucky in my profession. I never feel guilty about having a good time because it's research!"
Vibrant still lifes by Gemma Leslie and Emma Gale.
Artwork by Gabrielle Penfold.
Food is a subject that Penfold "will never get tired of" artistically. "I love the romance and the beauty of cooking."
Penfold is just one of a buffet - a smorgasbord - of Australian artists reinvigorating the still life with new energy. The 28-year-old's visions of meals, usually involving some form of seafood, a handful of lemons and the promise of sunshine, adorn Sydney restaurants including Margaret and Dear Sainte Éloise. Penfold's first exhibition was titled Lunch and Dinner; her second was the aforementioned ode to that briny, bivalve mollusc. Food is a subject that Penfold "will never get tired of" artistically, she says. And personally? "Obviously, I'm a huge foodie," she notes. "I love the romance and the beauty of cooking." It makes perfect sense to channel that love onto the canvas.
Artist Gemma Leslie
This story is from the May 2022 edition of Gourmet Traveller.
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This story is from the May 2022 edition of Gourmet Traveller.
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Not a vegetable but rather a flower bud that rises on a thistle, the artichoke is a complex delight. Its rewards are hard won; first you must get past the armour of petals and remove the hairy choke. Those who step up are rewarded with sweet and savoury creaminess and the elusive flavour of spring. Many of the recipes here begin with the same Provençal braise. Others call on the nuttiness of artichokes in their raw form. The results make pasta lighter and chicken brighter or can be fried to become a vessel for bold flavours all of which capture the levity of the season.
