Mona Lisa But Make It Dog Food: A New York Museum Just Opened The Greatest Art Exhibit Of The Year
Someone looked at the Mona Lisa and thought: what if you made that out of dog kibble? And then they actually did it. The AKC Museum of the Dog in Midtown Manhattan is currently hosting "The Art of the Breed," an installation featuring some of the most iconic paintings in art history, fully recreated in colorful dog food. Sisters Lauren and Samantha Treadwell of Old Bridge, New Jersey, spent two months bringing the project to life in collaboration with pet food brand Royal Canin. The finished pieces include kibble versions of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Johannes Vermeer's Girl With a Pearl Earring, Edvard Munch's The Scream, and Gustav Klimt's The Kiss. Each piece was painted, arranged, and preserved using stucco and polyurethane, all while keeping it away from the sisters' own dog, Charlie, who spent two months staring at the edible art supplies with puppy eyes and absolutely zero patience. "He wanted the food," Samantha Treadwell told ABC7 News. "He would look at us and be like, 'can I have a little.'"
Do not let the absurdity fool you though. TimeOut New York noted that from a distance the works look like traditional paintings, and only up close do you discover that all the shading, color variation, and texture comes from meticulously placed kibble. There is also one original work: a portrait of a corgi rendered entirely in dog food, which may be the most perfect thing that has ever existed. The exhibit runs through June 9 at the AKC Museum of the Dog on Park Avenue. Dogs are welcome on Fridays. Given the materials involved, they are probably more engaged with this particular show than with most.
