Jeanne Dunning

Jeanne Dunning: The Edible, 1997; cibachrome mounted to Plexiglas frame; 26 x 32 in.; gift of Rena Bransten. Photo courtesy of James Harris Gallery.

In the newly acquired photograph The Edible by Chicago-based artist Jeanne Dunning, a creamy pudding-like liquid oozes over a fragment of a nude body. Dunning's work typically evokes ambivalence, leaving the viewer simultaneously repulsed and curious. What is this? Is that a...? Can I eat it? When the forms have finally become decipherable, the viewer may be even more perplexed. This is the first work in the collection by Dunning, an internationally known artist and subject of a major traveling retrospective organized by the Berkeley Art Museum for 2006. The Edible will be featured in Turning Corners, an exhibition in Galleries 5 and 6, opening on February 26

Dara Solomon
Curatorial Assistant, Collections