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Matt Krawcheck and Sarah Cohen met while earning their respective MFA degrees at the University of Pennsylvania; Matt studied painting and sculpture and Sarah studied photography. As their relationship grew Matt and Sarah thought of ideas for a collaborative art project that would draw from the couple’s shared interest in cooking and exercising. Sarah and Matt graduated from UPenn together and got married a few months later.
"We live in a day and age where it is cheaper and easier to fill up on super-processed snack cakes, chips and food-flavored curls - full of subsidized non-food ingredients - than to buy real and recognizable foods. This body of work is largely about Matt and Sarah's journey towards a healthier lifestyle. It has been a life-long goal theirs, to be healthy and in shape, but this has been a challenge because she inherited her mom’s passion and talent for baking and a craving for junk food. Matt has fought his own battles related to a family history of severe food allergies and illness; together they are allergic to over fifty different foods. These improvised creations have helped us to cut simple sugars and carbohydrates out of our diet."
"The “Getting Fit with S&M” series depicts Matt and me performing exercises that we learned from the website Livestrong.com to build the major muscle groups in the body. The “Mountains of Insecurity” are the ingredients I no longer use. I photographed them in a manner of allure and fantasy as a comment on the way the marketing industry entices consumers to gorge themselves on sugar, flour, and simple carb-rich “food.” The “Tabloid” project includes Matt and my musings on various different topics, but this piece is primarily a parody of the advertisements that promotes unhealthy lifestyles focused on instant gratification. The various components of “S&M” are our antidote to the attitudes and behaviors in popular culture that ignore what we know about food and health."
Opening Reception on Friday, January 4th, from 6:00pm-10:00pm
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Closing Reception on Saturday, January 26th, from 7:00pm-10:00pm