‘Been there, ate that’: Food, travel blogger documents his journey in mixed media

Exhibition continues till November 9

ISLAMABAD: An exhibition titled “Been there, ate that”, featuring the work of Canadian artist Chris Stewart opened at the Nomad Art Gallery in Saidpur Village on Saturday.

“It gives me great pleasure that a Canadian artist is exhibiting his work in Pakistan. I applaud Nomad for always encouraging local and international artists to showcase their work,” said Canadian High Commissioner Heather Cruden, while visiting the exhibit’s opening.

Stewart, who has shown his work in several countries, has been moonlighting on the side as a writer. The focus of his written work has been food and travel. On top of being an artist and photographer, he has been published as a food and travel writer in various known websites and travel magazines. He is currently based in Islamabad along with his wife.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Stewart said the artwork exhibited in this collection is from several series of art that he created over the years.

“I have focused on food and travel because I write about them and my work tends to get inspired by it,” he said, adding that, “Back in college, I came up with a website on candy, which later got selected by Google as site of the month and became really popular. Ever since then I started writing about food and travelled all over to sample food in different places. This has inspired my art work.”

Stewart has been living in Pakistan for a year now, and has showcased his work in group exhibits. This is his first solo exhibition.

“When I first showcased my work in Pakistan, I said I wanted this country to inspire me and today I can confidently say that between that day and today, it did,” he said.

“Living in Pakistan has changed my ideology towards art; before coming here I would strive for absolute perfection and simple and straightforward work but now I have grown to find beauty in raw art work. In Pakistan, there is raw artwork, which totally works. There can be raw work that doesn’t work, but the one I have come across here looks stunning”, he said.

Stewart uses mixed media to showcase his inspiring travels and enthusiasm for food. This is evident by pieces that showcase rice, sushi, gum, candy and various other food items. His use of sculpture, photography, acrylics olive oil-based paints and several other mediums are absolutely unique and stunning.

The exhibition is undeniably a unique showcase of artwork. The use of real-life props, like rice in some of his artwork, brings the pieces even closer to reality.

“Chris’ work uses food as an inspiration, and explores many unique mediums that Nomad is proud to host,” said gallery director Nageen Hyat. She further said a specific percentage of the proceeds during the three-day exhibition will be donated to The Canadian Military Police Fund for Blind Children.

The exhibition continues till 9th November.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2015.