Wired. 2010. Oil, mixed media on canvas. 48 x 48 inches
Wired. 2010. Oil, mixed media on canvas. 48 x 48 inches
Bryan El Castillo
Wired
Paintings
New York, NY – Bryan El Castillo deconstructs and reconstructs layers of photographs and painting to create a fractured yet emotionally sensitive image. He focuses on the mystique of an individual and the beauty of a momentary glance. Sometimes melancholic, dreamy or gritty, El Castillo captures the essence of a defining scene. The angst begins his process by photographing hundreds of frames capturing a single individual and the environment. He collages the images on canvas and paints over the collage. His 2009 series of paintings examine the way an individual is perceived through layers of mediation (photographic images, TV broadcast, printed media, etc.)
In Bryan’s words: “These paintings are a glimpse of an entire moment made up of fractured pieces. Similar to the way we experience things and even more so, of how we remember them. They are expressions of me and the moments that I perceive every day, inspired by the city and the diversity of its people. I have always felt a strong connection to them through my art.”
Artworks
Brianna, oil, mixed media on canvas, 48 x 48 inches
About the Artist
Artist Bryan El Castillo deconstructs and reconstructs layers of photographs and painting to create a fractured and emotionally charged image. Through a technique of collaging photographs on canvas and overpainting, the artist focuses on the mystique of the individual and the search for identity in an ego-centric culture. His new series contemplates the effect of television and film on the viewer’s psyche. Our daily barrage of media images infiltrates the perception of one’s own identity, as shown through Bryans’s self portraits and symbolic compositions. In one painting a television set which shows an image of him in a fetal position; in another painting, he stands lifeless with various wires wrapped around his body, yet no visual of where the strands of wires lead or where the source of energy emits.
Bryan El Castillo lives and works in New York City. Westwood Gallery is his first agent. Since his debut exhibition in 2007, Defragmented Reality, at Westwood Gallery, NYC, his work has been exhibited in Art Miami, The Los Angeles Art Show, Art Chicago, Los Angeles Art Show and has acquired a serious collector following. His Chanel-themed painting which reinterprets the brand in his innovative technique is currently traveling together with an exhibition of photographs of Coco Chanel, 1962 (most recently on view at the Chanel Boutique Waikiki). His paintings were featured by The Huffington Post, ArtNexus and OhLaLa Magzine, and reviewed in the art section of Dining Out Magazine. Future projects include solo exhibitions in New York and Los Angeles.
Self-Portrait, oil and mixed media on canvas, 48x36 inches
Media
