VICTOR CASTILLO: junio 2009

MERRY KARNOSWKY GALLERY
July 11 - August 8, 2009

Opening reception: Saturday, July 11, 8-11 pm

Moonshadow, Acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm, 2009

After his successful exhibition in Roq la Rue gallery in Seattle last year, Victor Castillo shows his particular vision of western society with Merry Karnowsky for the second time in the US. Expansive politics –bombing, invasion and imposition of the self culture in foreign countries–, racism, omnipresence of violence, weapons culture or extremist Catholicism are some of the subjects of his new series of paintings. He depicts decadent aspects from our society through the use of an apocalyptical visual poetry. Once again, children are the main actors in the artworks, and the games that they play are far beyond ethical correction. They portray dark scenes where toys become weapons and cruelty replaces innocence. They act as metaphors but are actually not so far from reality when compared to facts like the trends in youth towards broadcasting their own violence and executing brutality without compassion or recognition of actual consequences.

The landscapes in this new body of work are baroque or “romantic”, and refer somewhat to a lost paradise or the Promised Land having become a sinister playground: Gameland. With a lighting atmosphere that could belong to sunrise or sunset equally, darkness prevails as the best panorama to hide questionable acts. On this occasion, the language that he uses is more direct: in contrast with the dark backgrounds, colors are vivid and create iconic images, bringing him closer to illustrative aesthetics. His allusions to politics are more obvious than they used to, and there’s clear references to classic movies such as “The Shining” or Hitchcock’s “The Birds”.