Chloe Wise is a Canadian artist based in New York City. She is known for her artworks that take food as a theme. She works in sculpture, drawing, and video art and specializes in oil painting. Wise became widely recognized in 2014 when actress Bobbi Menuez attended a Chanel launch event wearing Wise's sculpture, "Bagel No. 5," a realistic sculpture of a bagel with cream cheese adorned with a Chanel purse chain and charm. The sculpture was believed to be a real purse designed by Chanel, until it was revealed that the "bag" was part of a collection created by Wise.
Through diverse media, Wise often critiques consumer culture, commercialization, "ideas of 'wellness'", and the self-construction of identity. Wise employs comedic, satirical, and self deprecating strategies while using references to art history, such as the pronkstillevens that inspired sculptures in her exhibition Of false beaches and butter money. Wise considers 17th-century Dutch still lifes to be the "early modern equivalent of rap music." Wise's sculpture work also includes Quit Playing Games with my Nips, a sculpture of dice covered in pierced nipples made of latex, as well as Star of Larry David, aStar of David constructed from oil painted urethane casts of bacon.
''Bread Bags''
In 2013, Wise began a collection of sculptures featuring different kinds of bread adorned with designer labels modeled after various It bags. The sculptures were made out of urethane and oil paint and finished with a designer label or charm along with straps to make it look like a functional bag or purse. The collection began with a play on the Louis Vuitton "baguettes," in which Wise created a bread mold of a baguette out of urethane and then painted it with oil paints to resemble a real loaf of bread. She then drilled into the sculpture to add straps and a Louis Vuitton charm. The collection also includes a Prada backpack made of a sculpted, braided challah loaf titled Ain't No Challah Back Girl, and another piece with a sculpted bagel with cream cheese completed with a Chanel chain and charm called Bagel No. 5. In an interview with Lucky Magazine, Wise stated that the idea for the collection stems from the notion that: "Bread is a symbol of status and wealth and these 'it' bags connoted status in the early 2000s..." Wise goes on to explain: "I wanted to show the parallels between the idolatry for luxury items in fashion with the equivalent importance of the commodity in the art world." In October 2014, Wise lent Bagel No. 5 to actress India Menuez to wear to the Chanel No. 5 film launch event. The "bag" was believed to be a real Chanel purse by onlookers and various news outlets. Soon after, it was revealed that Wise had created the sculpture as part of her 2013 collection. During her interview with Lucky Magazine, Wise comments on the fashion industry's reaction to her sculpture: "Part of me dislikes it because I want to be clear that these are art objects and not fashion pieces, but on the other hand I think it's pretty funny that I was able to prank the fashion world and obtain that kind of viewership." The sculpture was later sold as part of the art auction at the RxArt's 14th annual benefit party.
