Objet d'Eat

UArts grad student Amanda D'Amico uses kitschy quotations and black and white pictures of presidents' wives juxtaposed with red meat to comment on the food industry's tireless targeting of housewives.

by Amy Strauss

If Martha Washington were alive today, she'd say, "I can not tell a lie. American beef is the best." If Jackie Kennedy were around, she'd harp, "I feed the children nothing but American beef." And Lady Bird, well, she'd be all, "Beef is a beautiful and tasty part of the American landscape."

In her project "Testament to American Beef," UArts grad student Amanda D'Amico uses kitschy quotations and black and white pictures of presidents' wives juxtaposed with red meat to comment on the food industry's tireless targeting of housewives. "If the first lady says it's OK to eat American beef," says D'Amico sarcastically, "we should all feed it to our children."

She's not looking to bash beef purveyors or their consumers — she's a devout carnivore — but rather to encourage people to think about meat outside its epicurean context. D'Amico's most recent project, a self-released Steak for All Seasons calendar, highlights this meaty infatuation.

For each month, various cuts of meat (beef brisket, rump roast, a rack of ribs, etc.) are posed Gil Elvgren-style, all leggy and disproportional and screaming of sex. April's Miss New York Strip (pictured) wears a bunny tail, pink ears and rose-colored pumps. December's Miss Bottom Round is in a St. Nick cap, bending over in front of a Christmas tree. And July's Miss Rib Roast gets patriotic with an American flag and fireworks.

D'Amico says her style is inspired as much by retro cookbooks as it is by vintage stag mags. "I loved the iconographic way they showed the steak," she explains of a microwavable meats food chart she found in one 1980s cookbook.

Although her family operates a number of French and Italian eateries in Minnesota and always stressed the importance of using fresh products, and D'Amico herself has worked alternately as a waitress, dishwasher and cook, she never dreamt she'd be creating art about food. But growing up near General Mills' headquarters changed her thinking.

"They'd [test] products around the neighborhood that were slated for the market," she says. "And then they'd just disappear." The practice always made her wonder if she was a guinea pig for the corporation. Art seemed like a natural vehicle for expressing this and other foodie concerns.

Sexy steaks aside, the message is simple: Be cognizant of what you're stuffing in your mouth, and know where it comes from. Despite what the first wives say, it needn't be beef to be good.

(a_strauss@citypaper.net)

To purchase a Steak for All Seasons calendar ($35),contact D'Amico at tiny.revolutionary@gmail.com.