Obituary: Alberto Garcia-Alvarez

Alberto Garcia-Alvarez was born in Barcelona, Spain, where he grew up during the Spanish Civil War. He attended the historic Escola de la Llotja (Llotja Art School, 1944–1946) in Barcelona, before undertaking further artistic training at the Escola Superior de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi (University of Barcelona, 1946–1951). His early career reflected his classical art education, encompassing painting, fresco, mosaic, tapestry and stained glass works.

During the early 1960s, after exhibiting widely in Europe, he relocated to the US to teach at the University of Berkeley, California. He undertook major religious commissions for churches and monasteries on both continents during this era, while his studio practice saw explorations into abstraction and minimalism.

He staged notable solo exhibitions at San José Art Centre and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, also exhibiting alongside American artists including Frank Stella and Brice Marden.

In 1973, he was invited to be a guest lecturer at Elam, at the University of Auckland. What began as a one-year appointment became permanent, and he relocated to New Zealand with his young family. During his Elam tenure, Garcia-Alvarez taught painting, printmaking and lithography. He was promoted to senior lecturer in painting and established the Master of Fine Arts programme.

His influence at Elam also grew beyond his core teaching responsibilities. He became a respected mentor for many leading New Zealand artists, including Stephen Bambury and Judy Millar.

His legacy is visually represented at the City Campus in his significant mural ‘Collective Mind’ (1980), which is on permanent display as part of the University of Auckland Art Collection.  

The monumental work resides on the Princes Street façade of the Science Centre (Building 303) and incorporates 295 bisque-fired ceramic blocks, which advance and recede from the surface in a geometric, labyrinth-like format.

Around 600 ceramic pieces were first made for the project, which took more than a year to complete. They were handmade by then Elam students Katherine and Matthew McLean, who used glazed white and natural clays that were excavated from the site of the original Recreation Centre (completed in 1977). The finished components were assembled into eight heavy panels, before being lifted into place by crane.

Garcia-Alvarez continued to paint and experiment across media throughout his long life, exemplified in his expansive mixed-media painting ‘2012-70’, which was accessioned in 2013. He was working fastidiously in his studio well into his ninety ninth year, until shortly before his sudden passing in July.

- Madeleine Harvey, art collection adviser