Sizzling art show in upstate New York features bacon

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The first thing that hit visitors was the smell -- that sizzling, hickory, greasy smell that seeps into your clothes and hangs in your hair.

The pungent aroma announced to passers-by that the second annual Bacon Show was on. And if the smell didn't bring people in, maybe the man dressed in a bright pink pig costume would.

Brandon Shimoda, an artist and organizer, simply wanted people to come in and share his love of bacon. He and fellow artists displayed photos, paintings and exhibits glorifying the breakfast meat at his apartment Saturday evening. About 20 people showed up.

Greeting visitors was a 5-foot-tall foam replica of a strip of bacon. As people browsed, Shimoda fried up some real-life bacon for guests, serving the curled up strips in a bowl.

Shimoda, 25, said he was inspired by the memories bacon evokes, particularly of his childhood.

"Fresh cooked bacon and the smell? Almost heaven," said Brandon's father, Dori Shimoda, visiting his son.

Dori Shimoda remembered the start of Brandon's obsession. He said he remembers cooking two pounds of bacon for breakfast every Sunday morning when Brandon was younger.

Eventually, Shimoda and his former roommate Craig Sjursen started recruiting other artists to the Bacon Show. Last year's show in New York City featured the work of 24 artists and writers -- from nine states and three countries.

This year, Phil Cordelli, a childhood friend of Brandon's, submitted an exhibit of eight photographs showing his grandfather's frying pan, utensils and stove.

"Bacon to me, the first thing I think of is my grandad," Cordelli said. "He would always cook bacon for us. Upstairs I would wake up to the smell of bacon."

The youngest artist who entered the show is young enough to still be forming memories like Cordelli's and Shimoda's. Eight-year-old Gretel Wilson submitted a watercolor cut-out of a strip of bacon.

Gretel's mother was the one who saw Shimoda's advertisement in a local newspaper and helped her daughter enter her painting. Other artists hailed from the Albany area, from New York City and as far away as California.

Despite the popularity of the Bacon Show, Shimoda said he has been slightly pigeonholed. He agrees that there are other lip-smackingly delicious meat products available.

"Meatballs are pretty good," he said.

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