Gennaro Garcia Talento Latino!

Gennaro Garcia

By Diana Prieto-Bernal and Taylor Pineda

Gennaro Garcia is known in the Valley for his remarkable, enchanting pieces that illuminate rusticity of urban art and style. Gennaro is quite humble about his talents, primarily self-envisioning himself as a family-oriented man, and viewing himself as a father before painter.  Captivated by his pieces AZLatinos.com was given an opportunity to learn more about such a well-rounded, talented man.

Gennaro began his art ventures as a young boy, crediting his parents for substantial influence in his life and encouraging him and his older brother to be creative and to explore the arts. “My first drawing was when I was in kindergarten, it was for the back of a magazine the contest they use to have,” Gennaro said in an recent interview.  Assuming that Genaro won would lead readers to believe that these monumental contest jump-started his career, but that would be fiction. In fact, Gennaro did not win, and would be repeatedly out-shone by his older brother.

Gennaro reminisced, saying, “My brother was always the better painter; it was a big shadow being outcast, he was always better than me. But it was motivation to become a better artist and with years and years later the imperfections in my painting made my work what it is today.”

It was not an immediate decision for Gennaro to make a career of being a painter, in fact Gennaro expressed many other interest and loves he had. He mentioned that he grew up in his family restaurant where he enflamed a passion for food as well.  At a turning point in Gennaro’s life after going to graphic design school  he decided he would re-open his family’s restaurant. “Sitting behind a desk was never for me,” Gennaro says. In a later series of events Gennaro found himself moving to the U.S and beginning a career as a professional artist.  

Gennaro considers himself as being a professional artist for 13 years now. When asked what style of art he had developed, Genaro thoughfully replied, “Your style changes with time and mind. I don’t like to be in one style…the whole idea of being an artist is to create art. “ Gennaro  is in love with his career and the strides he has made to get to the position he holds in the art world, “I don’t change anything on a painting, it is like a diary. You have to be respectful to your past.”

With so much appreciation for the arts and heavily influenced as a child to explore creative freedom, Gennaro works to instill similar hopes and ambitions in young artists despite reductions in art education funding in Arizona today,

Painting by Genaro Garcia
“Don’t turn your back on your self”
Style: Pencil and Paper

“When I use to live in Mexico, what I heard is a child from everywhere but my parents, was that you are going to be poor your whole life if you are an artist,” he says.  “It’s a stereotype.  I think it is wrong, they should have art at schools like they have math. When you teach a kid to recreate and to learn any kind of art it helps with anything they want to do in life. It is like a sport. “

Gennaro voluntary donates his time to promote arts in schools, receiving donations from collectors and with the help of other artists. He paints murals and provides art lessons to the students. In addition to his community outreach, His latest project has him traveling to Puebla Mexico to work on his first ceramic collection most known as Talavera with the prestigious and 120 years old Arteventosa Co. this is a huge honor and exciting opportunity for him. He will bring his Talavera collection to the USA Market this fall.  Gennaro also plans to open a gallery in the fall in downtown Phoenix, AZLatinos.com plans to continue following of Genaro’s work as well as his future endeavors!

“It’s a learning process. I don’t want to master in any style, I just want to keep painting and learning more and more.”- Gennaro Garcia  https://www.facebook.com/ARTEGENNARO