If the subject of a painting reveals something about the artist, it’s safe to say has a bit of a thing for cheese. His brushy, rich oil paint food portraits are making waves on Instagram because, frankly, they look good enough to eat.
Like a mouthful of aged blue or French triple cream Brie, Geno’s paintings are full bodied and luscious. The captions on each artwork go further than simply noting the date and media – they contain flavour notes, too. It’s not surprising to learn the artist eats his subjects once he’s captured every detail (when it’s a crumbly block of cheddar, how could you not?).
In painting food – cheese, bread and other “indulgent subjects” – Geno is ultimately hoping for a physical reaction. “I like how it makes our eyes trigger our saliva glands,” he says. “I like to do that to my audience. "
It all started with a porterhouse steak, oddly enough. “In graduate school, way back in 2001, I had jokingly said I was going to paint a big juicy steak, one that I wanted to sink my teeth into the way children inherently did to their rubber duckies - which I was painting a series of at the time,” the artist tells SBS. “The meat turned out to be a revelation – I connected better to my subject. Other foods, especially those of local Philadelphia traditions, became my subject when I moved back home after graduating.”
Since then, Geno has used his Philadelphia studio to cultivate and explore the apparent connection between food and art, painting everything from cheese and bread to cakes, bacon and sushi rolls. “I’ve spent time focusing on sushi (Maki rolls to be more correct), and a series of chef plate compositions, which paid homage to Philadelphia chefs that were represented in my exhibit at the James Beard Foundation.” Maki rolls notwithstanding, it’s Geno’s obsession with cheese that drives his practice.
“Cheese is incredible to me, because it’s like having a sustaining, savoury snack that’s often just as indulgent as a dessert,” he says. “When I paint a subject, I focus on what I find alluring and seductive in the model and translate that into my paint. The way I enjoy painting, wet into wet paint, I find suits the subject of cheese especially well. The texture my paint creates, the direction of my brushstrokes, or the lack of brushstrokes even, further creates the surface of cheese beyond just shape, colour and value.”
Geno’s work taps into the pure, intuitive connection derived between people and the things they consume – his paintings are simple, focusing on the aesthetics of a singular food item, but it’s enough to make viewers hungry for whatever they’re looking at.
“Food is universally enjoyed and almost always is a way to relate to a community or culture,” Geno says. “My family connects through food at meals or holidays together. It’s a way to start dialogue; a gateway to connection.”
