The Black & White Art Fund Museum Gift Program PRESENTS
LISET CASTILLO PAIN IS UNIVERSAL BUT SO IS HOPE
time-based sand installation conserved in a photo series
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Pain Is Universal But So Is Hope (pink) c-print mounted on aluminum 71x95 inches (180x241 cm) Edition of 5+1AP 2007
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Pain Is Universal But So Is Hope (orange) c-print mounted on aluminum 71x95 inches (180x241 cm) Edition of 5+1AP 2007
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Pain Is Universal But So Is Hope (yellow) c-print mounted on aluminum 71x95 inches (180x241 cm) Edition of 5+1AP 2007
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Pain Is Universal But So Is Hope (blue) c-print mounted on aluminum 71x95 inches (180x241 cm) Edition of 5+1AP 2007
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Pain Is Universal But So Is Hope (navy blue) c-print mounted on aluminum 71x95 inches (180x241 cm) Edition of 5+1AP 2007
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Pain Is Universal But So Is Hope (purple) c-print mounted on aluminum 71x95 inches (180x241 cm) Edition of 5+1AP 2007
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About Liset Castillo and Pain Is Universal But So Is Hope series Pain Is Universal But So Is Hope by the Cuban artist Liset Castillo documents the construction of a fictitious city, a utopian microcosm where particular aspects of different cultures converge and fuse in the universal experience of creation and destruction. By focusing on the metaphoric use of materials, the belief in metamorphosis, and the relationship between action and its documentation, Castillo condenses the narrative into sculptural dimensions - using her signature sand - to extrapolate in space what she explores in time through sculptural articulation of historical landmarks separated by generations and geography but sharing a complex social narrative. The photographic series encapsulates sequences from a specific “state of change”, with each photograph documenting continual processes of decay, destruction and regeneration, all symbols of transformation. Each photograph also has a different background color bearing the insignia of that specific “state of change”. As in her earlier photographic work, Castillo continues to infuse sand with metaphor in particular by creating sand sculptures and capturing them on film as symbols of the ephemeral nature of our existence. Castillo’s photographs are deceptive illusions. They exist as physiochemical, two-dimensional images reflecting a three dimensional “reality”. By laboriously constructing the photographed images Castillo turns time back on itself; forcing viewers to first believe the illusion, then, as they understand its unrealistic nature consider the nature and construction of truth and reality. Liset Castillo graduated from Higher Institute of Art, (ISA) Havana, Cuba (1998) and de Ateliers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2002). She is a recipient of several prestigious awards, such as Guggenheim Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, NY, Mondriaan Stichting, Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Cintas Fellowship, Institute of International Education, New York, NY. Castilo’s work is in major private and public collections, such as Ellen & Jerome Stern Collection, New York, NY, West Collection, Philadelphia, PA, Progressive Art Collection, Cleveland, OH and others. Selected museum exhibitions: Parish Art Museum, Southampton, NY / Sand (2008) Brooklyn Museum of Art / Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art (2007 – 2008) Museo del Barrio / El Museo’s Bienal: The (S) Files / The Selected Files (2007) California Museum of Photography in Riverside, CA. (2007) Solo
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About Black & White Art Fund Black & White Gallery/Project Space supports diverse creative ideas in the increasingly cross-cultural environment. Our focus is on providing financial resources to emerging international artists and on preserving their artistic legacy. To carry out our mission, Black & White Gallery/Project Space established the Black & White Art Fund. The purpose of the Fund is two-fold: to support living, practicing artists by acquiring their work through the Fund’s Acquisition Program, and to encourage museums and other public collecting institutions across the globe to accept the acquired works as gifts through the Fund’s Museum Gift Program. For more information on the Black & White Fund, please Tatyana Okshteyn, Founding Director of Black & White Gallery/Project Space and Fund Manager. Email: info@blackandwhiteartgallery.com Tel: 718 599 8775
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All images are courtesy of Black & White Gallery/Project Space Copyright of the Artist
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