VICTOR CASTILLO: STRANGE FRUIT & MISS VAN: SHE-WOLVES
Venue: Merry Karnowsky Gallery170 South La Brea Avenue,
Los Angeles,
United States
90036
Start Date:2010-02-06 00:00:00
Description: Opening Reception: Saturday, February 6, 8 – 11pm
Merry Karnowsky Gallery
170 S. La Brea Avenue
(in the ART 170 Building)
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 933-4408
Merry Karnowsky Gallery is proud to present Victor Castillo: Strange Fruit and Miss Van: She-Wolves. The two Barcelona-based artists unfold their unique personal perspectives on subjects like seduction, temptation, innocence, desire, and cruelty.
A moral allegorist, Chilean artist Victor Castillo pairs classical painting with cartoon-like characters. He paints children in dark secret gardens, where they innocently reenact violent media images with brutality and indifference.
Most of the characters in Castilloís paintings have phallic, hot-dog shaped noses, humorously suggesting Pinocchio. He also makes reference to contemporary culture, human error and vices, politics, and the loss of values in the increasing consumption of modern life, which he sees as an insatiable desire that blinds us.
Castilloís work has shown in Spain, Chile, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Germany, the United States, Canada, Belgium and Taiwan, and has been featured in Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose magazines.
French artist Miss Van has become one of the best-known female painters from the graffiti scene, gaining worldwide acclaim for her work. In She-Wolves, the ultra-feminine ìpoupÈesî (dolls) wear animal heads as they reflect on their dark, predatory natures.
Always seductive and mysterious, Miss Vanís characters reside in a mystical world of quiet introspection, as they get in touch with their feminine power and the dangerous animal within.
While Castilloís work challenges the viewer with the consequences of allowing our weak human nature take control, Miss Vanís work asks a different question: What happens if we surrender to our animal nature?
Miss Vanís work has shown in the United States, France, England, Austria, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and Australia, and has been featured in Juxtapoz and Swindle magazines.
For more information, please contact Merry Karnowsky at mkgallery@att.net, 323.933.4408
Press Contact: Ellen Thompson ellen@mkgallery.com