A huge Thank You to Kolaj Magazine for featuring some of my work in their latest issue. Besides the four page spread, issue #8 also features a small write up on the recent International Weird Collage Show in Brooklyn I was a part of. I’ve been a loyal reader since Kolaj started and it’s always a good read so do yourself a favor and get a subscription.
Here’s an excerpt from the Artist Portfolio article:
“Joe Castro’s collages are like a controlled explosion, aggressive and pensive. There are violent moments in most, as in Backhand where a man’s eye is being poked out, or Aftershock where a man stabs another man in the head. It is very much about turmoil, in composition and subject matter. Castro takes a global perspective and has each piece of the collage reach out in a different direction. It’s as if they are events contained as an entity all desperately trying to exist together in a jumble.
There is a degree of sarcasm in Castro’s tone. Tornado Alley captures twisting motion using bejeweled bracelets meant to symbolize love. The composition overall has a glossy air, and the viewer feels caught in the whirlwind of consumption. Blind Exodus has a stack of American pennies in the center of it, praying women pushed towards the currency, and a hand that forcefully grasps teeth that bite down on a knife. Castro is not looking to shield us or show us pleasantries. Still, because of the scale of the images and movement in the composition, the viewer is kept considering and reconsidering the relationships between the elements Castro has asked us to contemplate.” – Ariane Fairlie
