Eating contest video inspires Beaumont artist to paint series of work celebrating iconic American wiener-and-bun combo
Published 12:42 am Saturday, July 24, 2021
Donna Price
On July 4, 2018, Joey Chestnut ate 74 hot dogs to win the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, a neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City.
For his feat, Chestnut received $10,000. Beaumont artist Kevin Clay also received something: inspiration for a new painting series.
In January 2019, after seeing Chestnut eat those hot dogs in an online video, Clay decided to begin a series of paintings around the event, or more specifically, on the hot dog itself.
His goal? To complete 74 paintings — the exact number of hot dogs consumed by Chestnut in the 2018 contest.
As Clay worked on the series, champion hot dog eater Chestnut set yet another new record by consuming 75 hot dogs in the 2020 contest. Clay soldiered on with his art project, switching from oil to acrylic gouache and back to oil again as time passed.
There’s no doubt that Chestnut is a record breaker but so is Clay. Instead of stopping at his original goal of 74 paintings, he ended up with 164 total hot dog paintings, and they are now on display in the “HOTDOG!” exhibit at the The Art Studio, 720 Franklin St. in Beaumont through July 31.
The majority of the works in the show are small scale, individual hot dog portraits. Several others are large-scale pieces exploring the abstract qualities of weenies and buns. As the series progressed, Clay said his focus moved from individual hot dogs to exploring hot dogs in groupings.
“By painting this form, the bun and the hot dog inside, over and over again, I’ve touched on what it means to break down an icon to its pure form and reduce it to a near abstraction,” Clay said in a statement.
As for Joey Chestnut, he’s still the hot-dog-eating king. Earlier this month, he broke his own world record by consuming a whopping 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes at the annual Coney Island contest.
The Art Studio is open noon – 5 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday. Admission to the exhibit is free.
Online: www.artstudio.org, https://kevinchristopherclayart.com.
Hot-dog-themed art by Beaumont artist Kevin Clay that are being exhibited in the “HOTDOG!” exhibit at the The Art Studio in Beaumont through July 31.
