Mary Heilmann takes the cake (back to NY)
by Leah Rosenberg
We learned earlier on that it is best to get a sense of an upcoming show ahead of time, to talk to curators as they are planning the exhibition, to get inside scoops from the museum install crew, to make the most successful rendition of a dessert based on an artwork. Often, extra time was needed to get the approval of the artist, or to work out serving details, or to order ribbon...from Canada.
But none of this mattered when I discovered one Wednesday night in April that Mary Heilmann was giving a lecture downstairs at the Wattis Theatre the following night. Mary Heilmann is my favorite artist. I could go on about how her work got me through grad school, but best to cut to the part about cake.
I didn’t sleep that night – Mary Heilmann’s paintings playing like a slide show through my head – each one a possible dessert. I thought about just going to the lecture, sitting on the edge of my seat and on her every word, but it would be a dream come true to meet her in person. And if I met her in person, I would have to make her a dessert. This is, afterall, why we were there doing what we did in the tiny kitchen at SFMOMA. For moments like this. And this, and this, and even this.
Mary Heilmann, Fire and Ice Remix/ sketch by Leah for Fire and Ice dessert
I had to carefully plan the following day, already packed with regular production, meetings and whatever else comes up in a day, in order to make something for Mary with the time and resources available. Maybe all this sounds a bit crazy-making. Or maybe, it sounds a bit like art-making. Whatever it was, on April 11, 2013, thanks to some fancy facilitating by SFMOMA Public Programs Associate, Gina Basso, I got to meet Mary and Mary got an impromptu dessert based on her painting Fire and Ice Remix. This Red Hot Red Velvet Cake with crème fraiche-spiked cream cheese frosting and buttermilk ice milk was made once and never again, what one might call an Artist Proof in the printmaking world, I suppose.
In the time between a tech run-through and her lecture, Gina brought Mary Heilmann up to the rooftop for a cake and ice cream remix of her Fire and Ice Remix.
While the dessert might not have been perfect, it was eaten and now is gone. Which thankfully, is not the case with the painting that inspired it. One week after her lecture, I received this sweet note in my inbox from Mary (herself!). Even her emails turned to art.
"Leah Thank you again for the beautiful Fire and Ice Dessert.....
I even saved some and brought it home to new york and ate it when I got home.
Hey here it is I 'll never forget Love Mary H"