ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Earth Fare has been a staple part of Asheville health food culture for 50 years. A local artist got the chance to put its five decade history on canvas.
Earth Fare, a healthy supermarket located at 66 Westgate Parkway, was founded in Asheville in 1975. Following a celebration of the store’s 50th birthday earlier this year, the grocery has further commemorated their anniversary with a still life painting by Gregory “Tall Greg” Carr.
Carr, 6 feet 8 inches tall, was more than up to the tall order of capturing 50 years of Earth Fare history.
Carr came up with the idea after participating in Earth Fare’s 50th anniversary artist market.
“I reached out and I just said, hey, I’ve been looking for an opportunity to tell a brand story with my still lifes,” Carr said. “The original idea was just to do the painting. I had no intention of them buying it, necessarily, but then they messaged back and were like, wow, I love this idea. This is awesome. And they said they actually wanted to commission a painting for the store.”
Carr is fascinated by capturing brand identity and commonplace objects in his work. Food especially captures his imagination. Carr has painted everything from Cheetos and Cheez-Its to PBR and Jaeger cans.
“I don’t know what it is, but I just love paintings of food, you know? It’s very nostalgic. Like, it’s not something you’d see necessarily every day,” Carr said. “But at the same time, it’s the type of things that we have all around us every day. And so I really enjoy that juxtaposition of it’s the things that we surround ourselves by every day, and then putting that up on a pedestal and saying that it’s deserving of this, like, fine art kind of label.”
For his Earth Fare painting, the grocery selected items that they felt were important to the company’s history and identity, then Carr took them back to his studio to arrange into still life.
“It’s telling the story of their brand. They started out selling bulk products, so I have the bulk wheat there, and Miso Master is a brand that has been with them a long time and same with Homestead Creamery and Dr. Bronner’s,” Carr explained. “And I guess it’s a really big deal when they crack open the wheel, the Parmesan wheel, so they had me put that in, and then their Big Tomato wine. And then this is a picture of their original store, the Dinner for the Earth.”
Carr was one of many local artists who lost supplies, space and equipment to the storm. In its aftermath, he said that capturing local businesses in this way was one way of giving back to the community.
“With the flood, it was like this opportunity to cross-pollinate, you know, to be able to do a painting for them and then use that as a way to hopefully give them a little bit of publicity,” Carr said. “Just share our audiences a little bit.”
Carr is hoping to work on similar projects with other local brands. He has prospects, too: After doing a painting of Highland Brewing Company’s beer, they reached out to sell his work at their brewery.
“I feel like it’s put a little bit of a snowball, and I’m hoping to continue to do that,” Carr said. “Reaching out to local food brands and just seeing if they’re interested.”
For more about Carr and his work, visit www.tall-greg.com.