Studio Gennaro Garcia is a workshop with a wall of dozens of spray paint cans and a smattering of stretched canvases ready for his next ideas. But it also is a space to display and sell sculptures, large-format paintings, wood carvings, prints, and Talavera pottery and dishware.
For those who aren’t in the market for an original piece that can run into the thousands, he also has a stash of stickers, coasters, T-shirts and tote bags.
The studio is open by appointment and on some First Fridays when Garcia's not off working on special events with chefs or co-creating wines. One of his latest creative endeavors is collaborating with Kris Magnussen of Lechuza Wines in Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico, which they’re in the process of launching.
“For me, the best part of being an artist is the learning process of creating art,” Garcia says. “That’s my adrenalina, my rush. That’s what I live for. To help, learn and collaborate.”
Combining the palate and palette
Thanks to his work at local restaurants and galleries, Garcia is one of the Valley’s best-known and most prolific artists.He’s done the interior design for Taco Chelo on Roosevelt Row, which he co-owns with Aaron Chamberlin and Suny Santana; Ghost Ranch in Tempe; seven locations of Barrio Queen; and others. At Talavera at the Four Seasons Scottsdale, he created a mural and displays work for sale.
In addition to his studio, his work is available at For the People, Practical Art, Royse Contemporary Gallery and Xico, Inc.
Peering through oversized, thick, black-rimmed glasses, the slim, salt-and-pepper-haired Garcia talks earnestly about art, food and his inspirations.
“Gastronomy and art, it goes together so well,” Garcia says. “For me, it’s my two passions. I grew up in the kitchen with my family and now I’m collaborating with the best chefs.”
And in fact, this fall he plans to start hosting intimate dinners in his studio at a communal table he built.
“Every time that I go to Mexico City, I have this really good friend of mine, I will let her know I will be there this date and she will curate a beautiful dinner for a group of people,” Garcia says. “We have a special menu. We drink wine and we eat and we talk and it’s the most unforgettable evening you can imagine.”
He aims to replicate that in Studio Gennaro Garcia. “The idea is to bring chefs from Mexico and local chefs and do a small event for 12 to 14 people,” Garcia explains. “The idea is to have my food, serve it on my plates with all my art around it. It’ll be a whole experience.”
An avid cook himself, Garcia plans to participate in making the meals. He custom-designed a grill he can wheel out of his studio and says he has a complete outdoor kitchen at his home in Ahwatukee, including an Argentinian wood grill, yakitori grill, gas grill and charcoal oven.
“At least five days a week I cook outside, even in summer,” he says.
It’s no surprise that Garcia grew up in the restaurant business. His father and uncles owned a restaurant when he was young, and he opened three restaurants in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, Mexico, by his mid-20s.
After moving to the U.S. in the mid-1990s, Garcia managed a restaurant in Yuma and later married Briseida Silva and moved to Phoenix. The couple has a daughter, Frida Garcia, named after Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who is also one of Garcia’s favorite subjects to include in his paintings.
From faux finishes to fine art
In the 2000s, Garcia met a couple who owned a coffee shop in Ahwatukee called Beyond Bagels and started showing his art there. Soon, he began to apprentice with Mia Pratt at Old Pratt Studios doing faux finishes in homes, which was trendy at the time.Garcia eventually became a senior muralist and, in 2006, forged his own path as an artist. He’s won awards and accolades ever since, and in 2018, began to study at Casa Uriarte in Puebla, Mexico, the country’s oldest Talavera factory founded in 1824. There, he developed his own contemporary style.
A pivotal moment in Garcia’s career, he says, was when he met Javier Placencia, an acclaimed chef from Tijuana. He asked Garcia to make 250 of his signature “Hecho a Mano” (“Made by Hand”) ceramic plates with drawings of hands on them for his restaurant Bracero in San Diego’s Little Italy.
“I knew that when people would look at my plates, they would say, ‘Who made these plates?’” Garcia relates. “When he opened the restaurant with these plates, everything went crazy with my art. A bunch of chefs and restaurateurs and people, in general, started to contact me.”
Now, instead of painting marble columns in McMansions, Garcia charges handsomely for original works. He’s had dozens of solo shows and participated in more than 60 exhibits in the past few years.
During the pandemic, Garcia opened “arteliers” — a combination of “art” and “atelier” — in San Diego, Todos Santos, San Jose del Cabo and Puebla, although Phoenix remains his home base.
The centerpiece of the 1,500-square-foot studio on Grand Avenue is a cabinet designed to exhibit Garcia’s whimsical ceramics and Talavera, with nooks sized for the plates and lidded ginger jars. Paintings and sculptures occupy walls and shelves, and behind a small sitting area with black vinyl easy chairs and a stereo is his workbench.
Unsurprisingly, food is a common element in Garcia’s pieces, as are Día de Muertos-style skulls. Some combine both, such as a painting of a skull that is actually a tower of mushrooms upon inspection. He discovered his love of mushrooms while harvesting and cooking them in the middle of the forest of Puebla.
“I learned about the connection with the land, the people, the trees, everything,” he said.
But above all, Garcia’s work prominently features themes of women — particularly Kahlo, but others as well. “I have a huge respect for the beauty of women and that’s what I paint the most,” he notes.
José Cárdenas, who collects Garcia’s work, says one of his favorite pieces is “Mexicana de Corazón, which reminds me so much of my late wife. It’s a big part of the piece.” He adds, “It just captures the spirit of a strong woman, which my wife was, and somebody proud of her roots, which my wife was.”
Cárdenas said Garcia is a huge supporter of Xico Inc., a nonprofit promoting Latino and Indigenous culture, and donates works to its annual fundraisers. “His pieces at our annual auction tend to be the ones that get the most money,” he said, adding that one giclee in March brought in over $8,000.
“The big question every year,” Cárdenas said, “is ‘What is Gennaro going to submit?’”
Check Garcia’s Instagram page to find out whether his studio will be open on any given First Friday.
Studio Gennaro Garcia
1114 Grand Ave.
480-383-3259; artegennaro.com
