Meat Pie 1974

Dale Hickey made this painting of a Meat Pie, probably in 1974, with humble materials, maybe just some acrylic on board. Look at that tomato sauce, so red, so thick. The way Hickey has treated the surface of the pie itself is what I find really yummy. The crust is built up with these small, gestural brushstrokes that create this sense of… texture. They are neither quite brown, nor quite yellow, but a little bit of both, and the suggestion of a pattern. I can almost smell it, that flaky pastry, right? What else do I like here? I like the weird color combination of the brown and the ochre, and the slightly off-kilter composition. It reminds me a little of early Wayne Thiebaud, who painted cakes and pies with this same kind of loving attention. But where Thiebaud’s work is exuberant and Pop, Hickey’s is more… quiet and considered. Art isn't just about grand statements; sometimes, it’s about finding beauty in the everyday, even in a meat pie.