Who Arted: Weekly Art History for All Ages

5 Artists Who Take Playing with Their Food to a Whole New Level (encore)

July 20, 2026·9 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

Today I thought it would be fun to switch things up a little bit. Instead of focusing on just one artist and artwork, I’ve got 5 artists who work with food in ways most people would never consider. ⁠Jason Mecier⁠ creates mosaic portraits of celebrities using their favorite snacks, vices, and trash, making him a prominent figure in "junk art." ⁠Vik Muniz⁠ recreates famous paintings on a large scale using discarded materials, including garbage and chocolate syrup. Conrad Engelhardt crafts pointillist-style mosaics using wine corks, capitalizing on the various wine stains as his color palette. ⁠Jim Bachor⁠ fills city potholes with custom-made glass and marble tile mosaics, creating unexpected street art. Finally, ⁠Kristen Cumings⁠ uses thousands of Jelly Belly jelly beans to create vibrant mosaic masterpieces, including portraits and recreations of famous artworks. Cover art for this episode was Big Bird (breakfast cereal) by ⁠Jason Mecier⁠. Image courtesy of the artist. I am taking some time off to rest over the summer. I will be putting encore presentations of previous episodes to make it easy for those who subscribe to the feed to discover or rediscover some great artists/works. I will be back with new episodes right around back to school season.  Check out my other podcasts  Fun Facts Daily | Art Smart | Rainbow Puppy Science Lab Who ARTed is an Airwave Media Podcast. If you are interested in advertising on this or any other Airwave Media show, email: advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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