According to legend, Bellerophon, the son of the god Poseidon and the mortal Eurymede, is bestowed a gift from the goddess Athena: a golden bridle for the taming of the winged steed Pegasus. When Pegasus arrives to drink at the fountain of Corinth at Peirene, Bellerophon slips on the golden bridle and so began their adventures soaring through the heavens.
Shaking a Greek mythological family tree is always a revelation. Pegasus was the offspring of the god Poseidon and the Gorgon Medusa and therefore Bellerophon’s brother as well. Poseidon reigns over the seas, water, horses, and earthquakes, and his son Pegasus embodies the liquid element that would become the symbol of that Texas tea—the crude oil staked by the Magnolia Oil Company in 1934 and later becoming part of Mobil in 1959. The iconic red Pegasus logo would eventually become symbolic of the city of Dallas and serves as a lens here to think through the landscape of food and art.
I wonder what a hungry Bellerophon riding astride Pegasus over Dallas would spy for dinner. What exactly do our appetites reveal regarding local flavors and the cultural influences that feed the city? How have artists responded to the food landscape in the visual arts? And what are those culinary favorites or spicy crafted cocktails that beguile locals and visitors alike?
Dallas is a confluence of food pathways bursting with rich flavors and storied histories. It is the home of some of the best barbecue on offer—not a surprise coming from a cattle driving metroplex—and advances much of the city’s culinary identity. The Dallas Cowboys are more than a reference to ‘America’s Team’; the name is a nod to the labor, ingenuity, and culture where one in every four cowboys was African American and the overwhelming majority were Hispanic vaqueros.
The blending of various tastes and culinary traditions are what make local barbecue the sticky good bites around every corner. The hallmark of a good BBQ joint beckons before you enter the eatery—the aroma of smoky brisket, spareribs, chopped beef, and sausages capture the senses seasoned with the tanginess of sweet sauces. The offerings may be accompanied by loaded baked potatoes, truffle fries, potato salad, elotes, fried okra, baked beans, mac and cheese, cornbread, and enough juicy jalapeños to go around. Ambrosia was the mythical food or drink of the Greek gods and the namesake of a creamy concoction made with pineapple, citrus fruits, coconut, mini marshmallows, and whipped cream. In Dallas you are more likely to discover a dessert lineup of banana pudding, peach cobbler à la mode, handcrafted artisanal chocolates, churros, old fashioned ice cream, or pecan pie conjuring a sweet magic of mythical proportions.
Taco Tuesday is every day because who would not want to sample a variety of fajitas, empanadas, enchiladas, tacos al pastor, barbacoa, pupusas, and the best rice and beans topped with a hearty guacamole? Whether soft or crunchy shell, I imagine a famished Bellerophon on the hunt for tacos across the city.
Culinary diversity is a celebration of our cultural history and a reminder that the local is also international from Italian staples to Asian-inspired favorites, to plant-based options and juice bars, the city boasts a palette like no other in its appreciation for a dynamic food scene. Like the ancient Greek agora of Athens, a central marketplace located northwest of the Acropolis, Pegasus and his rider might graze the fare at downtown’s Klyde Warren Park and cool themselves in the interactive splash pad at the Nancy Best Fountain. With a bevy of food trucks, Bellerophon would have his choice of salads, hot chicken, quesadillas, halal, shawarma, falafel, and sweet frozen treats. Across the street at the Nasher Sculpture Center we discover how artists are exploring the intersections of foodways and craftsmanship.
A few of the food and drink-referencing works in the Nasher’s collection are Jasper Johns’s Bread, 1969; Willem de Kooning’s Hostess (Bar Girl), 1973; Beverly Semmes’s Cake, 2012; Shelby David Meier’s A Part of the Whole, 2021; and Kathleen Ryan’s Jackie, 2021, an oversized jack-o-lantern bejeweled with tens of thousands of precious gemstones and glass beads features the Halloween gourd in the most spectacular state of decay. In addition, the 2020 Nasher Prize Laureate Michael Rakowitz works in food pathways sourcing food packaging used in Iraqi cooking, mining the everyday objects as artifacts of memory, heritage, loss, and rediscovery. In early 2020 he and the museum hosted a community barbecue. Joseph Havel’s Drought, 1990, a large bronze twisting chair piece, is an example of his toppling chairs made popular in the ’80s and features eating utensils. The Seussian sculpture arching toward the sun, extending its body to the sky as if to feed itself the raindrops splashing on the upturned spoons, is a clever take on the stacked chairs.
Peirene was more than a watering hole, it was a source of inspiration for artists and poets who convened drinking in the water’s creative powers. It is no wonder museums offer dining experiences for patrons; the Greek muses counted the fountain of Peirene sacred, having sprung from the place where Pegasus struck the ground with his hoof. One of the Nasher Garden’s water features is accompanied by Nicole Eisenman’s Sketch for a Fountain, 2019, a five-part work featuring a supine oversized figure cast in bronze lounging poolside with what I suppose is a can of beer resting on their chest. While the exact nature of the libation may be in question, restful indulgence is in full effect.
The watering hole is a public space calling to mind the communal nosh where friends, old and new, gather to break bread. Such an experience was hosted by the 2018 Nasher Prize Laureate Theaster Gates. Afro Mingei: A Project by Theaster Gates ran from October 2022 to April 2023 and was a living installation—a pop-up cafe merging Japanese and African American foodways, music, culture, and drinks. The spirit of commensality, that is the social practice of eating together, was the heart and soul of Afro Mingei, which featured the artist’s own ceramic serving dishes accompanied by tea service, Japanese whisky, craft cocktails, and Asian fusion faire served at communal tables. Conversations with strangers flowed effortlessly under the soulful rhythms of ’70s grooves from Gates’s own collection of 1,000 records spun by local DJs. Afro Mingei was a curated watering hole resting under the fantastic ultramarine neon aura of a blue afro headpiece mounted on the wall where commensality inspired artists and poets alike.
Dallas native Hugh Hayden’s exhibition Homecoming, 2024-2025, at the Nasher draws upon the “American Dream,” including reflections on dining with dinner tables and chairs. Hayden’s rich practice in crafting the culinary appears in his cast-iron skillet portraits referencing both African masks and family members. In the Nasher’s gallery the artist has added a sound recording of him frying bacon, playing from a sousaphone welded to a copper-plated pot.
Food, art, and culture continue to collide in the most delicious and unexpected ways thriving on the diversity of a city bathed in the shadow of Pegasus’s wings. It is a mythical place where the muses get hungry too, and the city’s offerings of a thriving food and art scene nourish the senses and expand our appetites. As an art historian focused on food pathways and the cultural flows of both modern and contemporary art, I often wonder: What do these works of art say about our own appetites and consumption? Food is often an analog of the self, as well as a source of inspiration for many artists reminding us who we once were and who we are becoming. In the hands of artists, these works of art become more than fanciful reflections of eating and drinking, they serve as group portraits, culinary conduits, memories materialized, celebrations, and our hopes and wishes.
Photo Credits:
Beverly Semmes, Cake, 2012. Painted ceramic. 45 x 24 x 24 inches (114.3 x 61 x 61 cm). Nasher Sculpture Center. Acquired through the Kaleta A. Doolin Acquisitions Fund for Women Artists. Image courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center
Joseph Havel, Drought, 1990. Bronze. 100 x 75 x 42 inches (254 x 190.5 x 106.7 cm). Nasher Sculpture Center. Gift of the Barrett Collection, Dallas, Texas. Photo by A Sea of Love, courtesy of the Nasher Sculpture Center
Jasper Johns, Bread, 1969. Lead, paper, and oil paint. 23 x 17 inches (58.4 x 43.2 cm). © 2024 Jasper Johns and Gemini G.E.L. / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, Published by Gemini G.E.L. Photo by Tom Jenkins
Nicole Eisenman, Sketch for a Fountain (figure with can), 2017. Bronze. 33 x 111 x 60 inches (83.8 x 281.9 x 152.4 cm). Nasher Sculpture Center. Acquired through the Kaleta A. Doolin Acquisitions Fund for Women Artists. Photo by Adrienne Lichliter-Hines