For Harley Langberg, his day job in finance hasn’t exactly fed his creative side, so he started satiating it with — literally — produce instead of paint as his muse.
What began as a creative outlet that he could engage in with his children has become the medium of his artsy side. Via his project, Harley’s Food Art, Langberg creates art that’s part sculpture, part “painting,” using fresh ingredients as his materials and inspiration.
“It started as a sort of hobby and side hustle. I like having this left brain, right brain creative outlet,” says Langberg, who splits his time between Manhattan and his extended family’s home in Bridgehampton and, when possible, likes to bring in local produce to his palette from spots like Fairview Farms, Babinski’s and Round Swamp Farm.
“When I’m at farm stand and see a beautiful tomato or purple kale, I’ll think how can I include this in my next my piece?” Langberg says. “Sometimes it’s a little different color or texture, and that’s exciting. I’m big into produce.”
Officially Langberg started the project in 2014 with an eggplant ode to the elusive street artist Bansky.
“I saw a food art exhibit at the Chelsea Market for Clare and Bill Wurtzel, the OG food artists, and it was this is great combo of everything I love. I grabbed an eggplant, some peppers and rosemary and made my version of Banksy’s ‘Flower Thrower’.”
Harley Langberg’s edible masterpieces will be part of a four-day food-art workshop in Marché, Italy. (Photos courtesy of Harley’s Food Art)
But he was always seeing the art in what was in front of him. “I did play with my food when I was a kid but my parents were not happy about it,” he laughs. “I’ve always into culinary, too, starting at an early age. I loved art and studied it in college. One of the things I do now is teach kids [food art] at my daughter’s school with her kindergarten class.”
But before you cry “waste!” Langberg goes full-circle with the pieces. They are not meant for longevity; every piece is eaten or composted, and often he goes to his refrigerator crisper to be inspired, repurposing what may well have wound up in the garbage at the end of week.
“I’d love to do more of that – taking leftover produce in supermarkets and see what can do with it,” he says. “I’ve got a lot of ideas.”
What started as a little edible outlet has now garnered international attention, however, far beyond the East End and Manhattan. Not only has he been on the Today show and the Tamron Hall show, this September, he’s been invited to take his food art to Italy as part of a four-day workshop series through Italiana Tours, where he’ll be recreating Italian masterpieces and landscapes in Marché.
But it’s the East End that often is the source of imaginative inspiration. “I’ve been going out there since I was little. I’m one of the people who likes it even more in off-season. There are so many artists who started there and it’s really inspiring,” he says. “For me, the ingredients are different out here. It’s not like gong to Whole Foods in the city. Going to local stands and utilizing those fresh ingredients and being inspired by them and the landscape there, it’s just different.”
