Santo Gerardo

Ethan Cohen Gallery is pleased to present Santo Gerardo, a solo exhibition by Gerardo Castro, an Afro-Caribbean artist whose artwork questions and expands beyond conventional societal and religious structures, creating portraits of both real and imaginary saints to look up to and watch over the marginalized. In re-imagining these structures and saints, Castro invites viewers to do the same, encouraging a dialogue about evolving traditions towards inclusivity. In this exhibition, Castro seamlessly weaves together subjects of identity, ancestry, and lineage through the kaleidoscope of spirituality, sexuality, colonialism, power, and revolution. Merging oil painting with mixed media applications, Gerardo Castro creates constellations of marvelous glittery, unmistakably black, and emphatically brown figures in environments that are spiritually charged. His paintings are in a sense icons, or doorways to the sacred - timeless, visual manifestations that serve as a portal into the artist’s creative world. Castro depicts his subjects as icons to convey the presence of a sacred being. To have imagery that gives representation to people of color, honors, reflects, and reminds the marginalized that they too are sacred. Gerardo Castro was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He obtained an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, in 1996 and has been exhibiting his work nationally and internationally. He is currently based in Newburgh, NY. Castro recently organized the 13th annual Newburgh Open Studios and The Lightbulb Project: a public art experience. Santo Gerardo is the artist's first solo exhibition with Ethan Cohen Gallery.

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251 W 19th St

Chelsea, NY