North London Food & Culture

The latest anti-Trump protest? #Resist Oreos

After causing a stir last summer with her anti-Brexit custard creams, Kentish Town artist Sian Pattenden is back

Sian (left) and Pandora outside their art space last summer. Photo: Grrrr!
Sian (left) and Pandora outside their Malden Road art space last summer. Photo: Grrrr!
So: why more artworks made from edibles?
You may remember the Brexit protest biscuits that Pandora Vaughan and I displayed in our Grrrr! gallery in west Kentish Town last summer. Well, I made some USA custard creams after the US election, because the ridiculous had happened and Trump had been made president. We then showed them as part of a tiny protest installation at a show called Art Basil, which housed galleries the size of shoeboxes in an artist’s garden in LA.

And what then drew you to the Oreo?
I was working with the old faithful custard creams and while I sold a few to people in the US, I knew I was dealing with what is essentially a British biscuit. Great for a Brexit protest but maybe not an actual ‘cookie’. So – of course – Oreos made perfect sense. They have an interesting surface, just like the custard cream, but because of their shape look like medals. And they’re still toxic, because I never use edible paint. So don’t eat them.

Four of the best: Sian's protest Oreos. Photo: SP
Four of the best: Sian’s protest Oreos. Photo: SP
Any subjects that have been rendered as taboo?
I was going to draw Piers Morgan on one yesterday but felt that giving him any more of the oxygen of publicity was going too far. But maybe I’ll paint some sort of dog, with “arsehole” written on its collar instead.

The Oreos will be set in resin, because I’ve worked out how to do that, like the protest biscuits, but a more limited run this time. If you have anything you want to protest about, let us know at Grrrr! and we may be able to incorporate it.


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A USA custard cream. Photo: SP
A USA custard cream. Photo: SP
And will there be a new Grrrr!?
Yes. In Queen’s Crescent this time, from 10th March. It’s going to be run very much like an art factory. We’ll have new paintings, drawings, biscuits, maps; we often just make things up as we go along, but this time we’re going epic. Big stuff. I’m constructing a large Truth machine and looking at importing some Greek pillars.

We’ll be putting on events featuring some some special guests. We have some rather ridiculous ideas – just got to persuade some people first.

You can buy the biscuits here. Grrrr! will be at 44 Ashdown Crescent, just off Queen’s Crescent NW5 4QE from 10th March. More info. Twitter and Instagram: @grrrr_art

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