Carolyn Castano Explained

Carolyn Castaño (born 1971 in Los Angeles, CA), is an American visual artist. She is the recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant for Painters and Sculptors (2013),^[1] the California Community Foundation Getty Fellow Mid-Career Grant (2011),^[2] and the City of Los Angeles Individual Artist Grant (2011).^[3] She is an Assistant Professor, Drawing & Painting, at Long Beach City College.^[4]

Castaño creates portraits utilizing painting (watercolor and acrylic), drawing and collage. Her portrait subjects are often adorned with glittery and ornate accessories, bold hairstyles, color, and patterns referencing the world of high fashion.^{[5] [6] [7]} Some of her portraits feature a character named "Betty Ramirez," the artist's alter ego, with visual references to Mexican Golden Age cinema and Italian neorealism. Other portraits are based on photographs that are then translated into painting. For example, her series of paintings titled "Hair Boys" is based on photographs of friends donning hairstyles from past decades and even centuries.^[8]

Education

• MFA, University of California, Los Angeles, 2001.^{[9] [10]}
• Skowhegan, School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, Maine, 1996.
• BFA, San Francisco Art Institute, 1995.

Exhibitions

• "Carolyn Castaño - A Female Topography 2001-2017." Laband Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA. 2017.^[11]
• "El Jardin Femenil Y Otros Ocasos." Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. 2012.^[12]
• "It’s Complicated." Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. 2009.^[13]
• "Liquid Los Angeles: Contemporary Watercolor Art in Los Angeles." Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, CA. 2005.
• "Semi-Precious." Public Art Fund, New York, NY. 2004.
• "Against Nature." Lombard-Freid Fine Arts, New York, NY. 2004.
• "International Paper: Drawings by Emerging Artists." Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, CA. 2003.
• "Marked: Bay Area "Drawings." Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery, Hunter College, City University of New York, NY. 2001.
• "Sin Titulo: Fragrant Afternoon." Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA. 2000.
• "The Adventures of Betty Ramirez and Little Miss Attitude." Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA)/San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA. 1999.

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Joan Mitchell Foundation announces the 2013 Painters & Sculptors Grant Recipients. Foundation. Joan Mitchell. joanmitchellfoundation.org. 13 December 2013 . en. 2019-03-31.
2. Web site: Carolyn Castaño 2011 Fellowship for Visual Artists. California Community Foundation. en. 2019-03-31.
3. Web site: Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery COLA 2011. en-US. 2019-03-31.
4. Web site: Carolyn Castano. Long Beach City College. en. 2019-03-31.
5. Book: Gonzalez, Rita. Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement. University of California Press and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. 2008. 978-0-520-25563-0. Los Angeles. 128.
6. Rosenblum. Beth. 2008. Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement. Art Nexus. 70. 163. Artbibliographies Modern.
7. Porges. Maria. 1998. San Francisco Fax. Art Issues. 51. 32–33.
8. Jones. Leslie. July–August 2004. Step into Liquid. Art on Paper. 8. 40–45. ARTbibliographies Modern.
9. Book: Gonzalez, Rita. Phantom Sightings Art After the Chicano Movement. University of California Press. 2008. 978-0-520-25563-0. Los Angeles. 131.
10. Book: International Paper: Drawings by Emerging Artists. UCLA Hammer Museum. 2003. 9780943739250. Los Angeles. n.p.
11. Web site: Woman as Landscape The Argonaut Newsweekly. argonautnews.com. 2019-03-31.
12. Web site: Carolyn Castano's Bedazzled Narco-Wars. Frank. Priscilla. 2012-03-28. HuffPost. en. 2019-03-31.
13. Web site: Art review: Carolyn Castaño at Walter Maciel Gallery. 2012-03-22. LA Times Blogs - Culture Monster. en-US. 2019-03-31.