ALFREDO CASTAÑEDA, PAINTER OF POETRY
The exhibition Alfredo Castañeda, painter of poetry at Casa de América offers a journey through the Mexican artist's work from a more poetic point of view. In this way, Castañeda's paintings are shown accompanied by his poems, where a dialogue is generated between the artist's two vocations.
Castañeda's painting is poetic in the broadest sense of the word: its beauty provokes in the viewer, like all true poetry, an ineffable response that illuminates with pristine clarity the dark areas of the soul. No one would think that painting is a verbal or discursive art, although many painters, in their paintings, "tell" stories, "allude" to legends, "write" allegories, "discourse" on historical or mythological passages.... Certainly, the paintings "speak". (...) Alfredo Castañeda's paintings could be characterized by the mysterious silence they emanate and by the consequent opening of their intimate and profound meaning.
Gonzalo Celorio, Mexican essayist.
The works on display are part of his family's private collection. A legacy that has been shown to the public before, except for six exclusive works brought especially for the exhibition at Casa de América: Mensaje, Con los signos escapados, Consejo oriental, Instante preciso, El buen camino and El pequeño Rey. The exhibition is curated by Marina Castañeda, the artist's granddaughter.
Also unpublished is the installation in which viewers can find Castañeda's handwritten poems accompanied by two glasses, a bottle of wine and some sketches, referring to an anecdote from the artist's life that his granddaughter, Ibiza Castañeda, relates:
Leonora Carrington and my grandparents Alfredo and Hortensia used to meet for lunch on the terrace in the garden of their house, whether to eat, chat, draw, drink wine or enjoy art. My grandfather, like some people in Mexico, used to spit a splash of wine on the ground for those who are no longer there. On one of these occasions, playing, painting with pencils on dirty papers and even napkins this poem was born. As my memory was vague, I wanted to know the details of the story and this is how my grandmother Hortensia shared it with me, not long ago. And this is how I tell it to you, as a beautiful, even funny memory of all those afternoons after dinner and the art that came out of them even without looking for it.
Ibiza Castañeda, granddaughter of the artist.
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Alfredo Castañeda. Mensaje, 2005 óleo sobre tela 100 x 81 cm. (39.37 x 31.89 inches)
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Alfredo Castañeda. FUGA AL AMANECER, 2003 OLEOS SOBRE LIENZO, 90X90 CM COLECCIÓN PRIVADA
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Alfredo Castañeda. Con los signos escapados, 2004 óleo sobre lámina de poliester 38 x 40 cm. (14.96 x 15.75 inches)
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Alfredo Castañeda. Música callada. Óleo sobre lienzo. 120 x 120 cm. 2003.
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Alfredo Castañeda. REGALO DE CUMPLEAÑOS 2007. DIBUJO SOBRE CARTULINA 12 X 15 CM
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Alfredo Castañeda. El guardián de lo pequeño Óleo sobre madera. 36 x 23 cm. 1993.
Alfredo Castañeda (Mexico City; 1930 - Madrid; 2010) was a painter, thinker and poet known for his surrealist style and his ability to explore metaphysical and mystical themes through his art.
His work is characterized by a masterful use of color and form and by frequently incorporating dreamlike and fantastic elements. His characters represent universal archetypes such as: the solitary observer, mystical characters, the dual figure, the traveler or the dreamer.
Castañeda, in addition to his artistic career, was recognized for his work as a writer and illustrator. He shared his style with several artists who also explored surrealism and symbolism in their works. Among the most prominent are: Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington, Rufino Tamayo and even Giorgio de Chirico. These artists, like Castañeda, used their works to explore dimensions beyond immediate reality, creating a bridge between the visible and the invisible, the real and the imagined.
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