Fred Cress

www.villagevoice.com.au

Reflections on art and food By Lauren Farrow

While for most, the dinner table is a source of culinary delights and good conversation, for Fred Cress it is a battleground. Here among the knives, spoons and forks, the Annandale artist finds a wealth of inspiration, by uncovering marital affairs and dark secrets. “My subject matter is always to do with people,” Fred said. “In my case I try to make it so that it deals with the way that people behave. “My interest is in secrecy, I’m interested in people behaving badly,” he said. These musings and other reflections on painting, human behaviour and food have been featured in the book, The Artist’s Lunch, released last month. Written by Alice McCormick and photographed by Sarah Rhodes, the book is a visual and literary feast that explores the kitchens, works and philosophies of

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18 distinguished Australian artists. In the book, Fred, a former Archibald winner, talks of his life in the French countryside of Burgundy, where he spends six months each year. It is in France, Fred said, that he has often uncovered the hidden lives of dinner guests, whether he means to or not. “I’m very sensitive to the undercurrents that people give out. If somebody is having an affair, I will know about it,” he said. “I know a woman in France who’s a psychologist. When I first met her I thought she was happily married. He was a very handsome film director. “But when I started work in the morning I drew a woman with a man’s head on a plate, and it was his head. Months later I discovered that she was having an affair with a 23 year-old, she was 51, and that it was her sixth husband. She was a man eater. ”

Fred Cress’ work ‘Seconds’, 2004. Photo courtesy artist and the Artist’s Lunch. Right, Fred Cress. Photograph BY Sarah Rhodes. The Artist’s Lunch is published by Murdoch Books. For more information visit www.theartistslunch.com

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