Castro was born in 1934 in the village of Holakcu in Auburn, CA. During his childhood, he was surrounded by his native Nisenan Maidu culture and learned from the tribal elders many stories and traditions of the Maidu people. His grandfather was Jim Dick, the last chief or headsman of the Auburn area. Castro did not begin painting until 1973 when, after serving in the U.S. Navy and working briefly in the logging industry and at a firm that made clay pipes, he was unemployed. It was at this point that his wife, Betty Murray Castro, urged him to begin painting. Betty is a very a notable figure in regards to Castro and his work because her skill as a storyteller and knowledge of Maidu language and history gave insight on the people, subjects, and content in many of Castro's paintings.
Castro has been classified as a folk artist and even a "Primitive" artist, the latter of which seems like an unfair label as his work is highly detailed and shows mastery of his medium (acrylic paint) as well as the subject and content he portrays in his paintings. Much of Castro's subject matter comes from his native culture, such as myths, stories, and portraits of actual people. At the Maidu Museum, Castro's work was primarily displayed with the Myron-Zentz Gallery downstairs, but a few were located upstairs as well. The retrospective included a variety of subject matter, such as Castro's portraits, his depiction of roundhouse ceremonies, and historical events.
Upon entering the main entrance of the Myron-Zentz Gallery viewers can see Nish-a-Nan Baskets, one of Castro's paintings that shows elements of Maidu culture. Nisenan baskets and other items colored in red and white (perhaps musical instruments or ceremonial items) are depicted against a blue background. Nish-a-Nan Baskets is representative of Castro's work in that some parts of the painting look simple and two-dimensional (namely the blue background in this case), while other parts are extremely detailed, such as the baskets. For the baskets, Castro carefully delineated both the overall form of the baskets and the stitches within them. His meticulously painted baskets allude to the painstaking process of actual basket-weaving where detail is also essential. Two of the baskets in the foreground might have been painted from references as the designs of both are fairly common in Maidu baskets (at least in their general form because variations often occur), such as the "lightning" or "zig-zag" pattern seen on the left basket and the "V" pattern on the right basket. Pictured below are images of actual baskets that have designs similar to those in Castro's painting.
Dalbert Castro, Nish-a-Nan Baskets, 1992, acrylic on canvas.
(Apologies for the low-resolution image; it was originally posted on http://lessons.ctaponline.org/~ccasner/artisan1.htm. Similar to the Symbols: The Door Opens exhibition I reviewed earlier, I do not have many images of Castro's work because photography is generally not allowed in the museum.)
A coiled basket with the "lightning" or "zig-zag" pattern.
A Washoe degikup (a "fancy basket" that is typically larger in size and non-utilitarian) with the "V" pattern.
Kum is another painting by Castro that pays tribute to Maidu culture. While Nish-a-Nan Baskets showcases individual Maidu objects, Kum focuses on Maidu ceremony. "Kum" is Maidu term for "dance house," a circular building where important ceremonies take place. The dance house or roundhouse is placed against the backdrop of the surrounding Californian valley landscape with grasses, shrubs, and trees. The painting might even be considered a double portrait with its inclusion of two figures. Kum appears to show a scene from real life, so there is also a documentative aspect. The combination of "simple" and "detailed" representation continues in Kum, but they are not necessarily mutually exclusive to one another. Specifically, the "simple" can be read as the overall appearance of this painting because there is not much highlighting or shadow or the building up of volume. However, upon closer inspection, the details in this "simple-looking" scene become apparent. Every brushstroke looks meticulously placed. There is an almost mathematical precision to Castro's placement of the grasses, the shingles and boards of the roundhouse, and the yellow, frond-like objects on the post by the roundhouse. The shingles include thoughtfully placed whites and browns, and the frond-like objects show hints of pink among the yellow. The detailed and controlled appearance of the painting seems to suggest the thought and care that Castro put into representing this part of his culture.
Dalbert Castro, Kum, acrylic on canvas, 1990. Showcard for Dalbert Castro: A Retrospective exhibition.
This is another excellent blog. I admire you for bringing careful consideration to an artist who should be known outside his local community.
ReplyDelete