Patrick Trefz’s documentary Man in the Field: The Life and Art of Jim Denevan on the celebrated artist and chef opens in theaters and on demand on Friday, September 24, 2021.
Man in the Field profiles pioneering American multimedia artist and chef Jim Denevan, revealing the personal and circumstantial struggles behind his myriad and mysterious artistic gifts. As Jim battles to overcome an on-swell of mental illness in his family, he creates a body of inimitable work. His canvases are twofold: he makes land art, epic geometric formations. And he creates dinners that transcend the experience of what we know as a meal. Both forms of expression originate from Jim’s need for both community and solitude; both touch people, including the artist, in unexpected ways.
The documentary intimately reveals Denevan’s artistic and culinary gifts with land art in epic geometric formations alongside grand dinners in beautiful natural settings. Instead of bringing the food to the restaurant, Outstanding in the Field has brought the restaurant to the food since 1999.
Hosted at one long table, with 100 to 1000 guests dining together, Denevan has set tables in vineyards, beaches, meadows, fishing docks, and city streets. Over 120,000 lucky patrons in all 50 states and 16 countries have experienced this once-in-a-lifetime event and now Trefz’s film will allow audiences to experience it too.
Watch teaser trailer for Man in the Field: The Life and Art of Jim Denevan.
Jim Denevan is an American chef and artist who creates temporary land art. He is also the founder of Outstanding in the Field, a traveling farm dinner series. Jim Denevan works with natural materials to create massive scale drawings in sand, ice, and soil. His sculptures are not placed in the landscape, rather, the landscape is the means of their creation. His process goes beyond drawing and implies a spiritual land-finding process. Jim Denevan uses a stick and a rake to draw on sand. His creations usually last a few hours before being washed away by the tides. Aerial photography or video is needed to comprehend the final work.