Merry Karnowsky Gallery presents Victor Castillo's "Gameland "

Written by Ellen Thompson, Gallery Director Thursday, 09 July 2009 21:38

Los Angeles, CA - Merry Karnowsky Gallery is proud to present Gameland, a solo exhibition by Barcelona-based Chilean artist, Victor Castillo. In his latest paintings and drawings, Castillo illustrates an impressive balance between the conflicting extremes of juvenile innocence and macabre violence. Opening Reception: Saturday, July 11, 8-11pm. On exhibition July 11th through August 8th, 2009.

In his first Los Angeles exhibition, Castillo’s deftly painted subjects are usually children wearing eerie white masks that bring to mind classic horror films and childhood nightmares. The children interact with animals and each other in a surreal and sinister cartoon world where toys become weapons, and brutality is gleeful.   They are often painted against rich black backgrounds, lit only by the flames below them, or at an ambiguous dusk/dawn before baroque landscapes.

Most of the characters in Castillo’s work have phallic, hot-dog shaped noses, comically suggesting Pinocchio. He also makes reference to contemporary culture, human error and vices, politics, and the steadily increasing bombardment by the media in our daily lives. A moral allegorist, Castillo tackles the subject of the production, consumption and digestion of violent media images with light-hearted grotesqueness, using juicy entrails and tortured cartoon characters in a style reminiscent of Bosch and Goya.

Castillo’s work has shown in Spain, Chile, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, Germany, the United States, Canada, Belgium and Taiwan, and has been featured in Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose magazines.

For more information, please contact Merry Karnowsky at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 323.933.4408 / Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 12 – 6pm

Merry Karnowsky Gallery / 170 S. La Brea Avenue / (in the ART 170 Building) / Los Angeles, CA 90036