Curator's Eye: Hunger Artist

PB&J, 2001, Mixed Media, 48 x 74 inches, Private Collection

Selected by Lani Ladbon, University of Washington-Tacoma Gallery

Bret creates work that’s visually stimulating, intriguing and, at the same time, socially conscious. Is it necessary for art to be archival, to last forever? No. This piece is made of bread, peanut butter and jelly — lots of it — all purchased at the dollar store in Tacoma. It’s made not to last; the work contemplates the ephemeral state of our consumer society. Bret takes a playful approach to serious subject matter. He makes work that’s accessible but leaves the viewer lots of room for reflection. One of the roles of an artist is that of an educator. Bret’s work provokes the viewer, requiring us to question the issue of indulgence and our desire for excess. On another level, this piece subversively highlights the quality of food available to low-income families. — L.L. ‹

“We are increasingly becoming a throw-away society and, worse yet, we are being forced to be so. My work expresses the obsession with “super-sizing” as an effort to satiate our personal hungers by overindulging our material appetites. The scale of this piece and quantity of food used to make it reflect abundance while also invoking a sense of waste. —B.L.