News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2019-08-14-gallery
August 14, 2019
Castaño Exhibition Kicks Off National Hispanic Heritage Month
The College of the Canyons Art Gallery presents the exhibition “Carolyn Castaño: Delineando un Paisaje Femenio – Outlining a Female Landscape” just in time for National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Running Monday, Aug. 19 to Thursday, Oct. 10, the solo exhibition includes Castaño’s recent paintings, drawings, mixed media and videos highlighting her ongoing exploration of identity, gender and social conditions facing women.
A free public lecture by the Los Angeles-based artist is scheduled 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, followed by a reception for the artist from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
“I feel very fortunate to be able to introduce our students and campus community to this wonderful artist,” Art Gallery Director Pamela Bailey Lewis said. “Two of my main goals as a curator for a campus-based art gallery are to bring the most compelling art of our time to campus so our students will have the opportunity to engage with it first-hand; and to create relevant, inspiring programming that reflects and supports the diverse communities we are here to serve. This exhibition does both those things.”
A Colombian-American, Castaño draws inspiration from her bi-cultural identity and explores themes and images that originate in Latin and Central America with a particular emphasis on how gender and ecological concerns play out in regional conflicts, narco-trafficking, and post-colonial struggle.
Making connections across cultures, places, and female experiences, Castaño is known for her powerful layering of multiple visual traditions, including Pre-Columbian and indigenous textiles, popular media, formalism, 20th century graphic design, and early 19th century botanical drawings.
“By putting abstractions and patterns on the same plane as traditionally painted landscapes I hope to not just capture the historical simultaneity of cultures and ecosystems, but also a sense of their possible futures,” said Castaño, who is the first Latina artist to have a solo exhibition at the gallery.
The College of the Canyons Art Gallery is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Those unable to visit the gallery during normal hours are welcome to contact the gallery to schedule a viewing appointment. All gallery exhibitions and related events are free and open to the public.