My Little Underground

Today's Special

The art of food at W139

From 22th July to 16th August 2009

For the last eighteen months, Sjim Hendrix has been preparing meals prior to an opening in W139. A feast for the artists, their friends, and the friends of W139. He bikes through Amsterdam and the locality by day, buying in ingredients; sometimes half the money goes on a whole, pink Vacherie cheese. At the end of the day, he goes to work in the exhibition space, working at a fold-away table equipped with two large Butagas burners and a small electric hotplate. The scent of home-made bouillon, roasted hazelnuts and roast pig belly fill the space, working their way inch by inch to our office. On Friday evening we set the fold-away tables with second hand plates and cutlery, and eat together as though it’s the first time.

In its thirty-year existence as an exhibition space, W139 has celebrated the relationship between art and food many times. In 2007 we organised the exhibition Supermodel by the Swedish art and agriculture collective Kultivator. Sjim Hendrix has the honour of continuing this tradition. From Wednesday 22 July to Saturday 15 August, in the rear space of W139, Sjim will prepare a five-course meal according the gastronomic precepts set out in Jean Anthelme Brillat Savarin’s book ‘Physiologie du goût’ (1825).

Four days a week (from Wed. to Sat.), Sjim will cook for 12 people; once a week, he will cook for invited guests. The space will be open as usual to the public during opening hours. And you can book by emailing todaysspecial@w139.nl