Rites – Magie et Réalité
José Castillo
Artiste plasticien
BIOGRAFIA
José Castillo nació el 2 de noviembre de 1955 en Santo Domingo, capital de República
Dominicana.
En 1976 ingresa en Bellas Artes en Santo Domingo. Se vuelve un activista comprometido político y es perseguido por el régimen Balaguer viéndose obligado a dejar su país. En diciembre de 1978 llega a París. Seguirá sus estudios en la Escuela Nacional Superior de Bellas Artes de París de 1981 a 1985 en el taller de pintura de Jacques Lagrange y en mosaico en el taller de Ricardo Licata.
Se orienta hacia una expresión popular cercana al Neo-primitivismo, que pone en escena todos los entramados de la magia, de los mitos, del sincretismo cultural y religioso en la vida cotidiana, en particular la de los negros y mestizos portadores de una historia que no se ha de olvidar. Su universo se despliega a partir de ese momento en diferentes soportes, material, óleo sobre tela, pastel, collages en técnica mixta, grabados y asimismo tótems, ensambles e instalaciones.
José Castillo participa en salones- exposiciones- ferias parisinas/os: Feria de Artistas
Franceses, Feria de Mayo, Feria de la Joven Pintura, Mac 2000 y a pedido de André Le
Glatin, va a unirse al grupo de la Bienal 109 durante algunos años. Sus obras son expuestas en Francia, Suiza, Holanda, China y en el Continente Americano y Latino Americano.
Lo imaginario que impregna la obra de José Castillo es también su secreta poesía. No buscó ilustrar leyendas populares, ni mitos Vodús particulares: no es un pintor naïf del Caribe, simplemente con su paleta de colores del Caribe, muestra el mundo que lo habita. De esas eclosiones de colores y motivos, se desprende una poesía trágica y alegre a la vez que se abre a una energía propia a la vida.
Elza Oppenheim Marie-Annick Seneschal Castillo
Traduccion : Graciela Darraidou
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BIOGRAPHY
José Castillo was born on November 2, 1955 in Santo-Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.
In 1976 he entered the Beaux-Arts of Santo-Domingo. As he was politically engaged and persecuted by the regime, he had to leave the country. He arrived in Paris in December 1978.
He continued his studies at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1981 to 1985. He attended Jacques Lagrange workshop for painting and Ricardo Licata workshop for mosaic.
He turns to a popular expression close to neo-primitivism, staging all the interweaving of
magic, myths, cultural and religious syncretism in everyday life, especially that of blacks and mulattos that we must not forget. His universe then unfolds on different supports: oil on canvas, pastels, collages in mixed techniques, engravings and also totems, assemblages and installations.
José Castillo participated in the Parisian art shows: Salon des Artistes Français, Salon de Mai, Salon de la Jeune Peinture, Mac 2000 and, invited by André Le Glatin, he joined the group of the Biennale 109 for some years. His works have been exhibited in France, in Switzerland, in the Netherlands, in China, in America and Latin-America.
In the years 2000, José Castillo turned to a new material: potatoes, the symbol of Latin
America: he let them germinate, painted them, then he took pictures of them and followed up their slow evolution. He organized this series into a photo gallery that he called “Las Papas”.
Starting in 2005, José Castillo devoted part of his work to photography and video: he took pictures of popular demonstrations in Paris and he sublimated them by pictorial photography techniques that gave them a sacred character. At the same period, he conceived and organized a series of pictures of ephemeral installations and videos where he revealed his entire imagination.
The imaginary permeating José Castillo work is also his secret poetry. He did not aim at
illustrating popular legends, no more than particular Voodoo myths; he was not a naïve
painter from the Caribbean; with his color palette, he simply showed the world as it is. From these outbursts of colors and patterns emerges a poetry that is both tragic and joyful at the same time, opening up to an energy that is specific to life.
Elza Oppenhein Marie-Annick Seneschal Castillo
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