Eat With Your Eyes Art and food come together at these six Valley restaurants. BY LYNN TRIMBLE relaxing meal or drink. If you’re looking to fuse food and art on your next outing, give these local restaurants a try. A Rachel Bess/Lisa Sette Gallery Art from p 27 butter carved to resemble a landscape, and her Untitled 4 (salt lick) features a women’s breast carved from an actual salt lick. Screenprints from Damien Hirst’s The Last Supper series present names of common foods like sausages and salad as pharma- ceutical labels. Clearly, artists have done some fascinat- ing things with food through the years. For a 1992 toned gelatin silver print ti- tled Still Life, Marseilles, photographer Joel-Peter Witkin set a cadaver head next to a bountiful vessel filled with vegetables and fish. In 1931, Salvador Dalí painted his renowned Persistence of Memory with its melting clocks, but also made a sculpture called Retrospective Bust of a Woman, which sets a baguette atop his subject’s head and lays corn cobs across her neck. Here in Phoenix, you’ll find numerous creative connections between art and food. Most notable are the murals painted at Barrio Cafe, and the area dubbed Calle 16, where Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza worked with artists to launch an ongoing mural project more than a decade ago amid anti-immigration policies that included SB 1070. Today, you can also see rotating ex- hibits through the storefront windows of an adjacent gallery space called Frida’s Garden and art filling the walls inside Bar- rio Cafe. Esparza recalls going with her father as a child to see Diego Rivera’s massive mu- rals inside the National Palace in Mexico City, where imagery includes figures mak- ing corn for tortillas, enjoying art and mu- sic, and fighting for independence. “Art and food and spirits have an equal place in creative expression,” says Esparza. “We’re the children of the corn; Art helps us pre- serve and share that history.” More recently, the Xico Arte y Cultura gallery focused on Latino and Indigenous artists relocated to Roosevelt Row, where it shares a wide-open space with the Barcoa Agaveria owned by David Tyda and Ryan Oberholtzer. During First Friday, a taco Rachel Bess, Soft Skin and Fragile Light, 2019, oil on panel, 5.5" x 7.5". vendor sets up outside the bar, where peo- ple who come to see art find their way to the food, and vice versa. But Tyda sees ad- ditional benefits, as well. “While building out our space, I believe that being connected to Xico has helped Ryan and I make sure that our art choices are appropriate and intentional,” he says. Local artists they show include Tato Cara- veo, Janet Diaz, La Morena, and Spawk. “We are working on QR code stickers that appear next to pieces around Barcoa so people can learn more about what they’re looking at, similar to a gallery walk- around.” Likewise, connections between art and food occur around downtown Tucson, where you’ll find cafe walls dotted with lo- cal artworks, and murals painted on res- taurant exteriors. At Cobra Arcade Bar on East Congress Street, for example, you’ll spot a mural by El Mac, an internationally renowned artist based in Los Angeles who grew up in Phoenix, where more of his mu- rals grace the urban landscape. Showing food-related art in Tucson makes perfect sense, according to Miller, because The University of Arizona is home to a regional food center and owns the nearby Biosphere 2 facility in Oracle, where agriculture is a strong focus. In 2015, Tucson became the first U.S. city named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy. “I hope people leave the exhibition feel- ing a greater appreciation for the value of art,” says Miller. “But I also want them to leave asking more questions about where their food comes from and all the ways food impacts not just individuals but com- munities.” “The Art of Food: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation” continues through March 20, 2022, at The University of Arizona Museum of Art, 1031 North Olive Road, Tucson. Museum hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Museum admission is $8. Republica Empanada 204 East First Avenue, Mesa Republica Empanada is home to exterior murals by local artists depicting everything from lowriders to cactus. Featured artists include Lalo Cota, Jon Garza, Frank Gonza- les, Zarco Guerrero, and Mando Rascon. Barrio Cafe 2814 North 16th Street Barrio Cafe shows artworks by local creatives including Tato Caraveo, Lalo Cota, Pablo Luna, and many more. Look for murals on the building, inside dining areas, and even in the restrooms. Find more murals on surrounding streets and alleyways, and changing exhibits inside a small gallery adjacent to the cafe. Fair Trade Cafe 1020 North First Avenue Fair Trade Cafe presents a new exhibition featuring local artworks every month, so you can always look forward to different styles of art. Recent displays have highlighted work by Carol Quijada, Jason Hugger, Champ Styles, Edgar Hernandez, and Harold Lohner. Jarrod’s Coffee, Tea & Gallery 154 West Main Street, Mesa Jarrod’s Coffee, Tea & Gallery has walls brim- ming with works by local creatives, including several emerging artists you might not discover if you always stick to your beaten path. Leave time to explore the nearby Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum while you’re in the area. Match Market & Bar 1100 North Central Avenue Match Market & Bar is located inside FOUND:RE Phoenix, a boutique hotel filled with works by local artists. You’ll see Pete Deise’s flowing sculpture out front, Randy Slack’s painting channeling Burt Reynolds and Britney Spears in the lobby, and a changing selection of artworks lining hotel walls. Pita Jungle Various Locations Pita Jungle spotlights works by different art- ists at various locations. On any given day, you might see art by Aja Rolland in Gilbert, art by Rick Ashcroft in Tempe, art by Tara Prescott in Chandler, or art by Beth Douros in Scottsdale. 29 handful of Valley restaurants dis- play amazing works of art that you can appreciate while you enjoy an phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES JAN 20TH– JAN 26TH, 2022
