Salvador Castillo
I registered for a free Wordpress.com blog and started writing
What’s your background? How did you get into art?
I was born and raised in Chicago and like any good child of the 80s watched all of my after school and Saturday morning cartoons. My brother bought a few comic books, so when I started seeing them at the grocery store around 1990, my X-Men comic book collection began. Of course my drawing pre-dates that, since I distinctly remember drawing Transformers around four or five years of age (‘84-’85). In 7th grade, my art teacher invited me to do an after school program run by the Marwen Foundation. It was cool so I started going to art classes at their facilities.
The summer after 8th grade my family moved to Austin, TX and I’ve been here ever since. In high school I continued my comic and cartoon habits and graduated with five art classes, AP credit for college, participated in three museum shows and four art fundraisers.
I snuck into the University of Texas at Austin and received my BFA in Studio Art. I wanted to stay in contact and involved with the scene, but without a studio, the time, nor the money, I started writing an art blog. Hearing about this symposium and what was deficient in Austin helped me decide where to focus my energies.
Are you making art yourself now? What type of work are you currently doing?
No, I don’t make art. [My former self, Jaime, made art that you can see here: http://www.complicateeverything.com/jaime/shows.html
How is the art scene in Austin?
It’s good, but still needs more growth. Near as I can tell, sales are happening, but the money is young and there is definitely room for improvement. Real estate isn’t so affordable now and because Austin was never a major industrial center, there aren’t many old warehouses that can be converted into studio space. People in Austin are great though. It’s those dang Californians you have to watch out for! haha just kidding.
What are some of your most favorite Austin art venues?
I try visiting everybody, but here are the top institutions and galleries I frequent;
Arthouse, Austin Museum of Art, Blanton Museum of Art, Women and Their Work, Art Palace, Lora Reynolds Gallery, Okay Mountain
What Austin artists should we be aware of?
That’s kind of a trick question. Who should you be aware of that has shown elsewhere? Matt Rodriguez, Eric Gibbons, Michael Sieben. Who should you be aware of that has shown mostly in Texas? Hunter Cross, Eric Zimmerman, Candace Briceno.
Who should you be aware of that used to live in Austin?
Christine Gray, Jared Steffensen. And then there are the artists who have been around longer than I’ve been paying attention: Andy Coolquit, Heyd Fontenot, Sydney Yeager, And newer transplants on the periphery: Yoon Cho…
And our top tier, university professorial artists…
Melissa Miller, Bill Lundberg, Theresa Hubbard (Art:21 season 3), Troy Brauntuch (Whitney Biennial 2006), Michael Smith (Whitney Biennial 2008)
What art blogs do you currently read yourself?
I spend the first thirty minutes at the office every day clicking through all the links on my blogroll.
What type of work currently interests you?
Good art.
Do you plan on staying in Austin?
I have a family, a mortgage and student loans to repay. Yes, I’ll be here for a while.
Would you recommend other artists moving to Austin?
No thanks, we have enough.
I’m kidding. If they can make it work? Sure. But don’t come here just to complain. We know we need work and changes are happening.
What do you have planned for your blog and your artwork for 2008?
I don’t know. I tried planning in 2007 and just disappointed myself. I’m going back to playing it by ear this year.
Any words of advice for any disgruntled artists or artists just starting out?
Don’t look at me! I was following you ’cause I thought you knew where you were going!
