22.02.12

Bread may be the staff of life but it is not often the stuff of art.

In a new exhibit titled “The World of Breads,” culinary school students at The Art Institute of California-Inland Empire have elevated loaves of bread to the status of art work in the school’s visual arts gallery.

“It’s fun to show the different shapes, colors and textures of the breads we bake in class,” said Chef Laurent Baillon, who teaches the advanced bakery artisan bread class.

The exhibit is the first to showcase culinary arts in the gallery, which has spotlighted fashion, graphic design and other visual media in its short history.

Bread is one of the world’s oldest prepared foods, according to a booklet that accompanies the exhibit. “As a foodstuff of great historical and contemporary importance in many cultures…bread has significance beyond mere nutrition,” reads the text. The words “bread” and “dough” are commonly used around the world in English-speaking countries as synonyms for money, while the Christian Bible uses “bread” to mean necessities in general, according to the text.

Source: Press-Enterprise