artnexus #96

The work of John Castles (Barranquilla, 1946) clearly stands out in Colombian sculpture of recent decades. Since the early 1970s, when his career started, Castles has displayed an interest in exploring the possibilities of geometry, investigating a variety of materials. 

Sheet metal came to dominate among other resources used initially in his works -prefab tubing, aluminum-, as the artist was driven to determine the expressive potential of each material he subdues into rippling, fluid shapes that make us forget the bluntness of its metallic origin. Castles finds a dynamic balance of forms and builds solid or suggested planes, producing volumes (real or illusory) that denote the reflective poetics on which his art is based. His proven capacity for synthesis makes it possible for Castles to use only those resources he deems strictly necessary, and any observer of his work notes that nothing is superfluous in it: Castles invites us to experience an aesthetic that is based on the essential character of the formal elements chosen. 

Castles’ education as an architect is present in his investigation of the way in which the relationship between work and space should operate, turning such searches into points of reference for thinking about how to carry out the exploration itself. In spite of the apparent simplicity that is the end result, he is interested in the force of form. 

Location and sculpture, be it in an enclosed space, in connection with nature, or in relation to an architectural environment, become the central focus of his reflection about the fluid dialog that must exist between artwork, site, and observer.

IVONNE PINI

ArtNexus: a New Format

The adventure of creating a magazine on Latin American Art began more than 38 years ago. What contributed to this miracle? Challenge, passion, determination, love for art, but above all the pleasure that through the years we have pointed out the most outstanding arts of the region and identified early on such young and promising talent. 

This intention has not changed; what has changed is the visual aspect. In the beginning, the magazine was made by hand with an adhesive rubber solution. Today, new technologies and updated equipment, and the Internet, make our work much easier.

We are launching this new issue of ArtNexus that features a bigger format, a new design, more space, and larger photographs, so the readers may better enjoy the information provided.

CELIA SREDNI DE BIRBRAGHER