Food for Thought : Artistic presentations on exhibit at Mythos gallery are appetizing. But they’re not edible, just life-affirming.

Food is one of the great subjects of art. Anyone who has seen the heavenly lemons and oranges of Francisco de Zurbaran’s “Still Life With Lemons, Oranges and a Rose” (1633) at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, or Paul Cezanne’s more earthy still lifes or Edward Weston’s downright erotic black-and-white photographs of fruits and vegetables knows just how tantalizing food images can be.

For Mythos gallery owner Glen Doll, an exhibit of food in art seemed only natural. In his mind, the two have a lot in common. Good art provides sustenance and is life-affirming, he said. “There’s nothing more life-affirming in its way than food.”

And he has a personal interest in both subjects. “I love making art and making food, and I love consuming both,” said Doll, who is also an artist.

He decided to unite his two passions in the show, “Food: For Body & Soul.” Putting out a call for entries of artwork that “might express our continuing need for both the physical and the spiritual sustenance which food provides,” he and artist Lucinda Luvaas selected 32 pieces by 13 artists.

While some artists took the word food literally and submitted food images, others used a more liberal interpretation and sent in images they considered nourishing that had nothing to do with edibles. Doll and Luvaas accepted some work from both points of view. But they were particularly pleased to find two artists who combined these approaches to make food images that transcend their physical forms.

The four works on view by Midge Lynn, all part of a series called “The Ties That Bind--The Binds That Tie,” consider the essence of life. One oil on canvas painting presents a feminine hand that appears to be squeezing out the contents of an egg. This protein begins to drip onto other robust renderings of eggs. Below that image is the silhouette of a woman holding a baby.

An intensely realistic graphite on paper drawing by Lynn contains three distinct images: two young girls holding empty bowls, a cloud with some light above it, and a ladder that might take the children upward, but one of its steps is broken.

We seem to be looking down, from above, at Bogdan Dumitrica’s “Dia de los Muertos,” an oil on canvas painting of a tabletop covered with various images--fishes and a loaf of bread, a knife, peppers, a cup, coins, a photograph of a man and woman, a crucifixion scene.

“I just feel I could break a piece of bread off that crust,” said Doll of the realistic picture. Yet, the contents and composition of the painting convey more questions than clear answers to the meaning of the piece.

Eleanor Kay Diehl also uses religious references in her intricate, shrine-like assemblages that hang on the wall. They generate food for thought if not actual representations of food. The title of one work, “I Love You So Much,” appears on a piece of a broken plate that contains the additional words, “it hurts.” This piece of plate hangs in a closet-like construction, over an image of a bound-up woman. To each side of her are open doors. The doors themselves are filled with broken plate shards that point toward her, and will stab her if the doors are closed.

“The shrines, icons, and installations that comprise my work are a response to the emotional and spiritual excitement that I feel regarding certain art forms,” Diehl writes. “I gather much of my inspiration from Mexican church and folk art. I am also sensitive to Byzantine and early Christian art. Using personal mementos, found materials, objects I myself make, I attempt a creative reorganization of traditional religious systems into new forms with modern significance.”

Nicola Lamb illustrates a dizzying view of one of the more troubling issues related to food in modern society in her painting, “Remote Control Binge.” A Mounds candy bar, M & Ms, Haagen-Dazs ice cream and other assorted goodies float about a blob-like woman who seems to be taking it all in as fast as she can. Amid this turmoil are some grapes, an artichoke and a TV set. On the tube is a couple, thin people in a tropical paradise setting.

On a truly buoyant note, Linda Meiliken’s tempera on board “Flying Carrots” and “Market Medley” convey the vibrancy of vegetables with their rich colors and detailed shapes.

Merrilyn Duzy’s collages, “Red Hot” and “Autumn Feast,” also present ripe, juicy vegetables. But the discerning eye will also detect elements of the human body frolicking with the peppers and squashes.

When putting together a juried group show, one “never knows what will arrive in the mail,” Doll said. In each submission, he found “all sorts of personal adventures going on. One thing I want to convey, I’m especially drawn to art that gives me a sense of fulfillment, as (does) a good meal consumed with good friends.”

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WHERE AND WHEN

What: “Food: For Body & Soul.”

Location: Mythos gallery, 1009 W. Olive Ave., Burbank.

Hours: Noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday. Ends April 15.

Call: (818) 843-3686.