Harley Langberg Is Creating Food Art with Pride

At the East End’s countless art fairs and exhibitions, visitors are likely to discover works of paint, ink, fabric, metal, glass and diverse other media. They won’t, however, find art made from food, and that’s for good reason — it would spoil. That’s why food artist Harley Langberg lives by the age-old adage: “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

Posting a photo of his first food art attempt on social media in October 2013, Langberg has since garnered an impressive following on Instagram, where he shares his skillful culinary creations and paid commissions with nearly 42,000 followers. The food art that he plates is often inspired by pop culture characters, celebrities, historical figures, holidays, LGBTQ+ Pride, world events, animals and famous artworks.

Langberg splits his time between New York City, where he works in finance, and the Hamptons, where he kicks back with his husband Zach and daughter Blake. Though he has described food art as a hobby in recent interviews, he’s up at 5 a.m. most days, creating and photographing new works, and hustling to secure a steady stream of brand partnerships, which has included the Food Network, Chili’s, Billboard, Kroger, Red Vines, Dylan’s Candy Bar and Little Caesars.

We hopped on a call with Langberg to learn more about his delicious world of food art.

A Conversation with Harley Langberg

What kind of background do you have in the worlds of art and food, and what inspired the combining of those two worlds in 2013?

I don’t so much have a background in practicing art, but I have always personally been into art growing up in the city — going to museums and studying art education throughout high school and then into college.

But I do have a bit of a culinary background. I started cooking at age 5, and then I almost went the culinary route. I did a program at the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts, which at the time was on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus, but then I chose to go the traditional college route at Northwestern. I continued (to embrace) my love of cooking by teaching cooking classes at college, doing some cooking demos. I worked for restaurants, did some catering.

So (art and food) were always intertwined in my life, even though I never pursued either professionally. And then, when I first discovered food art 11 years ago at Chelsea Market, that’s when I said, “This is really something I need to try. It combines two of my passions.”

Once you tried it for the first time, what did you find special or enjoyable about using food as a medium to create art?

When you’re using a traditional medium, like paint or pencil, you’re kind of limited in terms of texture, but with food, there are so many variables and different ingredients with their own textures and colors. I thought it was very interesting because there’s so much you can do. And the possibilities are endless because there are so many ingredients out there. That’s what really struck me — (food art), and food in and of itself, is beautiful. I wanted to highlight (foods), especially produce items, that I hadn’t heard of before and really use those in my food art.

In what ways has your food art evolved or improved since your earliest creations?

I’m doing pieces with more detail that focus a lot more on realism. I’ve also made pieces that are a bit more sculptural, which is really a big noticeable difference. I went from doing more 2D to almost more 3D, and I’m now doing actual 3D pieces, so that’s been a big change. I’m now really seeing and focusing on the details, because when you’re starting out, you’re just trying to put something on the plate and make it look good. Once I got the hang of it, I could really dig deeper into making it much more realistic.

Do you have any artistic goals in terms of images you have yet to create or foods that you’ve never worked with?

Over the years, I’ve done so many different subjects that I want to continue. There are still so many celebrities I have not done yet in food art, so I’d love to do those celebrities that I felt afraid to do because I wasn’t ready to do them. I definitely want to take the next step to try to do those celebrities and notable people and try to make them recognizable.

And there are always going to be foods that I still haven’t used. I’m often inspired by my travels, so maybe I’ll come across a food item that I haven’t used, bring it back and try to use it. That would be cool.

Now, how do you self-identify, and in what ways do you feel that your identity influences the art you create?

I’m gay and married to my husband, Zach, and we have a 3-year-old daughter, Blake.

At certain times throughout the year, especially during Pride, I’ll create some special pieces that are more focused on that. I have a public profile and have had one for the past several years, so I introduce my family more into that. In a way, I’m bringing them into the picture — Zach will help me do a piece, or eat a piece, so I think that my family and all of that plays a big part in what I do.

If there’s a particular issue (I’ll do a tribute) … there was a hate crime where someone burned the rainbow flag of this restaurant that I used to go to all the time in the West Village. I remember doing a tribute shortly after, and the restaurant reached out and they appreciated it. (My gay identity) doesn’t always come front and center, but I think it does play an important part in my food art journey.

From conception to creation, how long does one food artwork typically take you, and how do you balance time for your art with commitments to your day job and your family?

When I first started, each piece could take several hours. I really didn’t know what I was doing. I used to do probably one or two pieces a month because it took so long. But now I do probably four to five pieces a week, which is quite a lot. I do them either on the weekend or before work because I’m a very big morning person. I get up every day at 5 a.m. and that’s when I do most of my work. Lately I have been lucky to have a lot of commissions, so it’s also why I’ve been doing more than less. I’ll usually do those during the week before work or on the weekend if it’s a video (commission).

How long do you generally keep a food art creation intact after its photo or video has been taken?

Most of the time, I eat the ingredients. I use ingredients to cook with, repurpose the ingredients to save for another piece or, in some cases, I will have to just throw out the piece. Sometimes I will leave out the piece if I’m having some people over. I use it almost as a table display or centerpiece … but the food doesn’t really last that long. It really just depends on the piece and the occasion.

I like the fleeting aspect of food art, but what I tell people is that the picture is everlasting. I always have the picture, and I do sell prints. At the end of the day, when I’m working with these brands — and I’ve worked with over 75 companies — what they want is the picture. I do a lot of content for marketing, so I get to enjoy the physical piece, but everybody else gets to enjoy the pictures or the video.

How do you select the types of food to use in a commission?

In a commission for a food-related company, I’m really highlighting their products, and I would say probably at least 50% of my commissions are those. I’ll use those foods with very little other ingredients because I really want to focus on their product. If it’s not for a food-related company — in the last year and a half I’ve done a lot of fashion commissions — then I get to use the ingredients that I want.

Have you ever received commission requests from people who think your food art is intended to be served and eaten?

Yeah, I have and still do. I’ve had to turn down a lot of opportunities where people wanted me to do events in person like dinner parties. But the truth is: I have a job, another job, which I really love. I have a life, and I just think some people don’t understand that a lot of the ingredients I work with, they will change. It could be as soon as 10 minutes, and it won’t look as good as when I started. And that’s just the nature of the food. Unless I’m using candy — and I do a lot of candy commissions — but most of the time it’s produce that changes due to the environment. I’ve had requests to put in preservatives and all different things, but I never tried those and never really had a desire to. As I mentioned, I like that the art is there one minute and then it’s gone, but I have the picture.

Having partnered with so many brands over the years, is there one partnership that you’re particularly proud of?

Yes, there’s a company that I worked with for pretty much the whole of last year, which is a Norwegian salmon company (Kvarøy Arctic) that’s fully sustainable. The big product that they have, besides fresh salmon, is salmon hot dogs, which has become my daughter’s favorite thing to eat. They’re super healthy, full of protein, and the salmon is all-organic. I mean, literally, she would want to eat that over anything. I did a lot of work for them, and they had multiple different salmon products, like smoked salmon, salmon fillets, salmon hot dogs and salmon burgers. They commissioned me to do stuff for Pride and for multiple holidays. It was really fun working with them for the past year and a half actually. I just love their product, and I still buy it today, even though I don’t work with them anymore. It’s not always the case where I love the product I’m working with, but in this case, I really love it.

What’s one brand partnership that you hope to make happen someday?

I hope to work with Whole Foods … When I’m not in the Hamptons, Whole Foods is my go-to grocer. I’m probably there at least five or six days a week, every week, oftentimes seven days a week. It’s such a natural fit for me to work with Whole Foods. I partnered with Citarella, and that was fun because when I’m in the Hamptons, I pretty much mostly go to Citarella and King Kullen. But in the city, it’s all Whole Foods, so that would be a dream partnership. And they’ve featured me before, but we’ve never had an official partnership, so I’m crossing my fingers …

I’ll tell you, 90% of the partnerships I’ve had weren’t because they reached out to me, it’s because I’ve reached out. It’s crazy, but every week I send about a thousand emails, around 200 a day. … I recently emailed the CEO of Costco, and I actually heard back right before this call, and he connected me with the head of marketing. There you go. I just found the CEO’s email and boom! You just have to email people. I have a method, and it’s been working. I think that’s how I got into Dan’s Papers too; I first reached out to Oliver Peterson back in the day.

Speaking of Oliver’s coverage, are you able to share an update on your Ripley’s Believe It or Not! collaboration that you discussed in October?

Yes, the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! 2024 book is set to be released this fall. We’ve already submitted everything, and I should be seeing the PDF pretty soon. Then they’re going to start to work with me on the social media in the months leading up to the book release. We’re going to do a couple of collaboration posts, and I’m very excited about that.

To see Harley Langberg’s latest works of food art, follow him on Instagram @harleysfood_art and to purchase art prints or inquire about commissions, visit harleysfoodart.com.