It's Complicated

It's Complicated receives a nice review in June's Artweek by Ashley Tibbits

Artweek

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/

Beauty Queen, Smuggler, Girlfriend ( Laura Zuñiga)

Review: Carolyn Castano at Walter Maciel Gallery
10:45 AM, April 17, 2009

In his cartoonish style, Colombian artist Fernando Botero once painted a picture of slain drug kingpin Pablo Escobar as an obese, rooftop-dancing gangster amid a hail of bullets — sort of “Fiddler on the Roof” for the degenerate set. He presented the brutal criminal, once listed by Forbes magazine among the world’s richest men, in his pseudo-Robin Hood guise, dangerous yet cuddly. I’ll take Carolyn Castaño’s version any day. Her new work at Walter Maciel Gallery shuns easy moralizing for the sheer strangeness of modern media celebrity.
Seven punchy portraits, each 5 by 4 feet, chronicle men and women associated with Colombia ’s drug-addled travails. Paired with Escobar is Virginia Vallejo, the television news anchor who, improbably, was also his mistress. Nearby is Laura Zuñiga, the Mexican beauty queen who last December lost her crown when she was arrested on an alleged cash-and-weapons-smuggling trip to South America . Rodrigo Echeverry, Ingrid Betancourt, Clara Rojas and others who have flashed across TV screens also make appearances.
Castaño renders each one as a two-dimensional line drawing in rudimentary black paint on a blank white ground. Something as mundane as a facial feature — the curve of a nose or the shape of an eye — is faithfully rendered. But likeness is swamped by the overwhelming sparkle of glitter-encrusted paint on hair and lips, showers of syncopated geometric patterns in bright, eye-dazzling colors and lush cascades of ornate, stylized flowers.
There’s a visual insanity to the blaring execution of this imagery that meshes perfectly with the craziness of the subjects’ outlandish tabloid stories. A kind of Extreme Celebrity Portraiture, Castaño’s gonzo pictures make weird sense of inscrutable lives.
-- Christopher Knight

Los Angeles Times
Walter Maciel Gallery, 2642 S. La Cienega Blvd. , Culver City , (310) 839-1840, through May 9. Closed Sundays and Mondays.
Above: "Beauty Queen, Drug Moll, Girlfriend (Laura Zuniga)" (2009), acrylic, glitter and mixed media on canvas. Credit: Walter Maciel Gallery

Don Mario: Drug lord is captured while on Easter vacation.

Another one bites the dust, when officials captured Colombia's most wanted drug lord "Don Mario" aka Daniel Rendon Herrera, while vacationing for Easter at a finca in the northern region of Antioquia. El "don" was surrounded by 300 agents disguised as tourists visiting the town of Manuel Cuello. There are a few things of interest here, the first, Colombians love their fincas, mountain top homes where one could take in nature, relax with family and friends, or if need be, hide from the authorities. They are akin to our cabin in the woods. Also many a drug lord, kidnapped victim, or otherwise hunted person has been caught by folks pretending to be someone else; a band of tourists, a gaggle of catholic school girls, a soccer team, or maybe the red cross might signal trouble in your hamlet. Lastly, the region of Antioquia, where Mr. Mario was caught, is not coincidently also known for it's flowers, beautiful women, and industrious people. I'm continuing my research into the underworld of traffickers and as they say estupefacientes also known as narcotics. Should I paint this guy?

The Loot.: this little arsenal was confiscated last month in a warehouse near the Venezuelen border.

This is some of Don Mario's booty decommissioned by the Colombian police. Some of the toys included 293 rifles, 94 grenades, more than 64 thousand cartridges,11 grenade launchers, sub-machine guns, rockets, hand-guns, and radios.

It's Complicated at Walter Maciel Gallery ( installation view)

It's Complicated is up at Walter Maciel Gallery. To view images of the work, click on the installation image above. I was working away on the paintings for the show in the days leading up to opening. Thankfully the work got done and I was ready to get on with the celebrations. The opening was attended by art world folks, friends and family. Thanks to all those who made the trek out to Culver City. As they say on Southwest Airlines, " Thanks for flying with us."

To view images of the opening by clicking on image of folks below.

some opening shots

Flower detail

Day 5 and I'm still glittering. I had a bit of an accident yesterday, well the glitter does not always behave like I want it to. Word of advice to you future glitterers, when using glitters from different companies, watch for the weight and consistency of the different grains. Some chunky glitters might not mix with the fine ones. On my painting of Ingrid above, the fine black crystals got stuck in the bigger white flakes. Live and learn. But did I have to learn this today? Today I will go in and do some triage on the areas that have gone amiss. I'm also running out of supplies, which means yesterday I had to run to my glitter dealer. I arrived all desperate looking, with glitter all over my face. "I need the one pound of the 36P 8 in black please." The guy Alex just gave me a crazy look and was like, "Okay lady, I don't know what you're doing with the glitter, but you are not suppose to use this stuff as makeup"

The Elves Are Called In
The glitter is starting look like topographical maps.
more glitter

It's day eight and the elves have been called in to help out. Many an artist have an entire cadre of assistants who help them out with their work, sometimes making the entire piece for the artist. These studio elves have been known to help out with many a chore, such as basic stuff like filling in areas of paint, sanding a sculpture to perfection, fetching lunch, fielding phone calls from gallerists, collectors, and wives. Sometimes the studio elf's job can get complicated. With deadlines pressing, the artist may have forgotten to keep up with his/her social calendar. In that case, the elf acts as a kind of protector, he or she may have to block calls from angry lovers, ignored spouses, or debt collectors. Other times the studio elf offers his or her shoulder to cry on, sometimes they may offer a little more.
As for me, my elf assistant is Carlos Gonzalez of LBCC and as of yet hasn't been called to any of the more outlandish duties of an assistant. He is on detailing detail. Which means that with tiny brush in hand he makes perfect the crooked and bumpy. For which I am so thankful, since I am still on glitter duty myself. We've gone through two rounds of NPR news, maybe three.