«Food is everything: with my projects I can communicate my emotions through a unique language». Word of the artist Laila Gohar

Can food be considered a new art expression? In the world of Laila Gohar yes. Born in Cairo, she has lived in New York for ten years, where she conceives unique experiences related to food, combining two of her greatest passions: design and cooking. Not a simple cook, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lailacooks/?hl=it">@lailacooks</a> - this is his nickname on Instagram -, creates edible installations in uncommon spaces, such as the unforgettable and immense tower composed of shrimp and rose tails designed for the Galeries Lafayette last March, which has made the rounds of social networks, or the mileage mortadella that had been delivered from Bologna for the event. &laquo;The party for the inauguration of the Galeries Lafayette on the Champs &Eacute;lys&eacute;es was a celebratory moment, almost grotesque, but not in a negative sense: the largest disco ball in the world had been placed on the ceiling and everything was so deliciously excessive that I thought that it could be interesting to look at food with the same lens &raquo;. His is a new way of dealing with food, which in his hands turns into an artistic work. Beloved and esteemed by fashion - among her clients the designer Simone Rocha, Tiffany &amp; Co., Comme des Gar&ccedil;ons - it was she who set up the wonderful catering before the evening of this year&#39;s Met Gala, where she entertained guests with a series of cakes with a vintage and cartoonistic aesthetic, inspired by Italian cookbooks. &laquo;We were in Little Italy, New York in a small restaurant from the era of&quot; The Godfather &quot;. I simply wanted to play with this theme . &quot; His latest project: that during the Shanghai Art Week in November, where he recreated the evolutionary cycle of Perrier-Jou&euml;t champagne. &laquo;Before the event, I visited the &Eacute;parnay vineyards in the Champagne region. I didn&#39;t even know that there was the largest collection of Art Nouveau in Europe that belongs to the house of fine wines. I was amazed that Perrier-Jou&euml;t has always supported art and artists by encouraging them to create installations in an absolutely non-traditional way. I have been to the place where the bottles are produced and I have seen for myself the process that leads from the cultivation of grapes to the evolution of the bunch in champagne. When I got home I thought about the leaves of the vine, their shape and how vulnerable they are. Like the climatic conditions that from one year to the next can change the harvest and I thought how out of control the production of wine is in general ... you can do anything in your power but nature has the last word. I didn&#39;t even know that the vital stages of the growth of this plant were six in total; for this project, in China, I created 3D casts of vine leaves, which later became sugar sculptures &raquo;. Laila Gohar&#39;s way of representing the kitchen has gone around the world. Last year he created an installation for Tiffany &amp; Co., in New York, to tell the unforgettable film &quot;Breakfast at Tiffany&quot;, building a tower made up of over 5 thousand marshmallows and a gigantic sundial covered with chocolate and licorice. In this case, the artist wanted to explore the theme of greed through his childhood memories and the guests were encouraged to &quot;destroy&quot; and eat his works. &laquo;The dishes are a material with which I express myself. Through my projects I am able to communicate my emotions and my ideas. The medium is edible, but it could be anything else , &quot; Gohar explains. &laquo;Food is everything: it is the beginning and the end. It is the most basic thing we need to support us. It is universal and unites us &raquo; . The food designer, or rather, the food esthete, says that the challenge is to adapt the work that is usually done in the kitchens to less welcoming environments than a restaurant, &quot;and above all to know how to intervene in these spaces. Being able to use delicacies as an escamotage to make ice break between guests, in art galleries or museums, completely changing the atmosphere, allowing people to feel more free to express themselves, in such exclusive situations &raquo; . The obsession with food that has invested the new generations on social media is a source of inspiration for the artist&#39;s work. &laquo;People are obsessed with the appearance of food and with my work I try to give meaning to this new form of expression and &raquo;. Married to Omar Sosa, co-founder of the interior design magazine, Apartamento, with whom she shares an eccentric studio in Manhattan, she loves to organize weekly private dinners for &quot;creative nomads&quot;, including Serbian influencer Ana Kra&scaron; and designer Maryam Nassir Zadeh of Iranian origins. &laquo;We are all foreigners. The political climate in America is intense. It is important that immigrants work harder than before. Because especially in times like these of injustice and &quot;dividing walls&quot;, the political class needs to realize that it is we who lead America and contribute to the economic and cultural growth of this country &raquo;.

When food becomes art

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