El Internacional, an art project by artist Antoni Miralda and chef Montse Guillén, was the first restaurant to serve tapas in the United States, and soon became an icon of the New York art scene of the 1980s.

El Internacional, an artistic and culinary project by artist Antoni Miralda and chef Montse Guillén, was the first restaurant to serve tapas in the United States and soon became an icon on the 1980s New York scene.

This is the story of a project that transformed gastronomic experiences into installations and performances, setting a precedent for the art we know today as relational or collaborative.
The experience consisted of a creative process, where all team members and their clients played equally relevant roles, thus blurring the boundaries between food, art, design, architecture and media.

This profusely illustrated book reviews the history of the restaurant, exploring its architecture and style, and reviews the most relevant events that took place there, thanks to the memories evoked by its protagonists. In addition to sharing the most successful recipes, menus and memories of El Internacional, this publication portrays the urban history of a city in continuous evolution.

ANTONI MIRALDA

Miralda grew up in the atmosphere of a textile city. After completing his military service, in 1962, he settled in Paris, where he began to develop his photographic and sculptural work, creating his first edible sculptures. Little by little the scale of his work grows, turning his works into large constructions for the public space; At the same time, he began to develop public ceremonial events that included food, ritual, and color. In 1971 he moved to New York, and since then he has lived and worked between the United States and Europe developing public art projects and participatory events and installations.

His exhibitions in Barcelona and at the IVAM in Valencia, at the Venice Biennale, at the Food Pavilion at EXPO 2000 in Hannover or at the Reina Sofía National Art Museum in Madrid have attracted international audiences. The processions and street events he has organized in Paris, New York, Miami, Kansas City, and Las Vegas, among others, have opened up Miralda's work to the general public. He is currently developing a Museum of Food Culture, a virtual collection that explores the connections between food, popular culture and art, and shows the part of his work made in the United States and less known in Europe in the exhibition MADEINUSA , at MACBA.

Soft cover
English
24x33cm
700 color images
272pp.