Raul Castellanos' Exhibit "Recovery & Recycling" at Bihl Haus Gallery

David S. Rubin, SAMA Curator of Contemporary, will dialog with artist Raul Castellanos about his work in the exhibit “Recovery & Recycling,” at 2 pm on Saturday, August 28th at Bihl Haus Arts. The exhibit evolved from a conversation about Castellanos’ work between Rubin and Bihl Haus Arts Executive Director Kellen Kee McIntyre. "In his gold and silver assemblage sculptures," says David S. Rubin, "Raul transforms everyday found materials into objects of beauty, with overtones of divinity. In this respect, his art exemplifies the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg’s dictum that 'Everything is holy!'”
Deaf artist RAUL CASTELLANOS explores themes of Recovery—his own from addiction and mental health recovery, the recovery of an ecosystem after the BP oil spill and other environmental disasters, and the perpetual consumption of our society,—and Recycling—of found objects salvaged from trash heaps (“Storytime Series”) and gobs of dried paint peeled from the palettes of artist friends and harvested from his ‘Paint Farm’ where he collects recycled paint (“Energy of 1,001 Artists Series”). These themes and materials unite in the exhibit Recovery & Recycling, which continues at Bihl Haus (2803 Fredericksburg Rd.) through September 11, 2010.

David S. Rubin has been an active figure in the contemporary arts field for over thirty years. In September 2006 he assumed the position of The Brown Foundation Curator of Contemporary Art at the San Antonio Museum of Art. Over the years, Rubin has organized numerous solo and thematic exhibitions. His most recent exhibition is Psychedelic: Optical and Visionary Art since the 1960s, which is accompanied by a comprehensive best-selling book on the subject, co-published by the San Antonio Museum of Art and MIT Press.
Twenty-eight-year old artist Raul Castellanos, born in Mexico City, was raised in Miami, Buenos Aires, and San Antonio, where he currently resides. Castellanos regularly exhibits at venues throughout San Antonio and has shown work in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is also an arts teacher and an arts administrator, most recently at Bent Easel Gallery where he served as Curator and at San Antonio Visual Artist Gallery as Gallery Director. A native Spanish speaker, Castellanos is also fluent in English and American Sign Language. True to his dedication to the environment and to social justice issues, Castellanos will donate 20% from the sale of the artworks in this exhibit to National Wildlife Federation in support of relief efforts for wildlife victims of the BP Oil Spill.


Related Programming: Raul Castellanos will share his knowledge of gold-leafing techniques in a workshop on Saturday, September 11th at 2 p.m. Attendees are asked to bring any interesting found object, no larger than a fist or book, to gold leaf. Materials fee is $15.00 per person. For reservations, please call 210-383-9723.

A private tour of the exhibit may be arranged by contacting Artist Raul Castellanos at artcrazedguy@gmail.com. A portfolio of the artist’s work can be accessed on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2028557&id=1247484205#!/album.php?aid=2028557&id=1247484205

Bihl Haus Arts is a not-for-profit contemporary art gallery located at 2803 Fredericksburg Rd. on the premises of Primrose at Monticello Park Senior Apartments. The gallery, open Fridays and Saturdays, 1-4 pm and by appointment, is made possible with the generous support of The Potashnik Family Foundation and Primrose. This program was funded in part by the San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs.