DOWNTIME w/ Joe Castro

1) Location? Recently relocated to the suburbs of the Philadelphia suburbs. West of the city, east of eden. 🇺🇸

2) Years collaging? About 12.

3) What do you love and hate about collage? I love the hunt, just spending hours lost within a stack of musty magazines searching for some random image to just grab me by the throat, while at the same time being constantly distracted by various articles and ads. Appliances just looked so much cooler in the 1950s.

I hate that the mainstream art world doesn't take collage art very seriously (but we're gonna change that).

4) Biggest influences? Biggest influences? I can't really say but over the years, I've really been inspired by the work of Tom Waits, Mark Gonzales, Leonard Cohen, Jack Kerouac, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave, KRS-ONE, Chuck D., Henry Rollins, Gil Scott-Heron. Those are all significant signposts but honestly that list could go on forever.

5) Analog Vs Digital? Analog. With digital, there's just too many options, too many choices. And with that many paths, it's inevitable that you'd get lost down the rabbit hole. I need the strict limitations of working with something that's a fixed size and a certain color - it either works or it doesn't. And, like most people, I spend much too much time face-to-face with one glowing screen after another, so any activity that allows me to unplug is always welcome with open arms.

6) How do you spend your downtime? burning bridges and drinking coffee.

7) Three tips for someone starting out in collage?

a) the practice is the art (I stole that from Dani Shapiro)
b) Look inward, not outward.
c) Quality over quantity. always.

8) Up and coming shows or projects we should know about? I'll have a couple of pieces in the International Weird Collage Show at La Atómica in Valladolid, Spain - I'm really excited about that one (but bummed that I will not be in attendance) That opens April 23. I also have a few pieces in a group collage show at Latela Art Gallery in Washington, DC. I have a few other projects in the works but can't really speak on them yet. Hopefully make it down to Sydney some day.

Links:

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/mightyjoecastro/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joecastroart/
Website: http://mightyjoecastro.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mightyjoecastro
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joecastro/
Ello: https://ello.co/joecastro

JoeCastro_We_Are_Obsessed_with_Our_Own_disappearance.jpg

Artworks (top to bottom)
'We Are Obsessed with Our Own Disappearance' cut paper collage on paper 18.5" x 13" 2016
'30 Days' cut paper collage on paper, 16.5" x 11" 2015
'Avalanche' cut paper collage on paper 15" x 14" 2016
'Bloodfire' cut paper collage on paper 16.5" x 15.75" 2014
'Capricorn' (for Glamour Germany) cut paper collage on paper 12.5" x 12.5" 2015
'The Jackal' cut paper collage on paper 13" x 20" 2014
'The Nerium Spring' cut paper collage on paper 30" x 22" 2013
'The Drain' cut paper collage on paper 14" x 11" 2016
'sodapoprocks' cut paper collage on paper 20" x 15" 2014