Gut instinct
Anton Del Castillo explores the void
Anton Del Castillo explores the void
“Artists are storytellers of our contemporary existence. Their works reflect the society where they live in and mirror within,” says Anton del Castillo. “And artists become when they mirror their personal pain and joy in life.”
Speaking about his creative approach, Del Castillo admitted to being at the mercy of his subconscious mind and its flashes of imageries and symbols. “Without fully understanding them I transpose them into little studies or sketches, creating subjects of my works,” he says.
“I am no longer in a bubble, painting what I only see around me. I am immersed in the extreme play of life.”
Known for his gold leaf and modern icons, Del Castillo credits his affinity for Byzantine iconography to his extensive training in gold leaf and gilding techniques from the National Museum, in addition to the sevenmonth research grant in New York in 2006 through the Asian Cultural Council (ACC), Sovereign Art Foundation, and Rockefeller Foundation.
Later, Del Castillo’s name became synonymous with modern icons, reinforced by distinguished publications such as Hong Kong Tatler Magazine. His experiences abroad add further fuel to his work in the local art scene, which he has significantly contributed to over the years. “The Philippine art scene today is quite exciting, owing to the increasing popularity of art fairs, auctions, and ballooning industry of art spaces,” he remarks. “Aside from this, we have seen that even the audiences and collectors have deeper knowledge of the arts. They exert that effort to understand the message of the artist and enjoy relating to the artwork more. Now artists can make their visual dialogue to the audience clearer than ever.”
Three dimensional works, for Del Castillo, offer a more realistic presentation of the message. “I feel that the two dimensional is more visual,” he says, “while three dimensional is more experiential.”
He further elaborates on the visual elements and subject matters that have long been his source of fascination. Del Castillo says his exposure to the movie series, “Combat,” toy guns and even, at some point real guns at such a young age as having bombarded his innocence in relation to war and weapons. This led to Del Castillo’s two-man show, “A Play of Innocence” at the CCP, featuring violent toys that kids play with, exploring its psychological effects on the child, and its potential to bring out the violent nature of a person upon adulthood. “This is my way of telling the audience about the nature of man,” he says. “Man is violent. We live in a world of conflicts, where envy begets envy, revenge begets revenge, and ultimately, wrath begets wrath, [and it will do so] unless we fully come to know our real purpose in life.”
These musings are expounded upon in Del Castillo’s latest and ongoing show, “Void” at the Provenance Art Gallery at Shangri-La at the Fort.
With its origins traced back to the old French viude, “Void” describes the empty, vast, hollow, fallow, feeling of existential angst, when we ultimately attempt to find meaning for our existence, individually or as a society.
“Many of the world’s philosophies and great religions have attempted to find an answer or claim to fill the great inner yearning— and that is the subject of ‘Void,’” he said. Featuring nine oil-on-gold leaf paintings, 12 sculptures, and 14 studies in gold leaf panels, the collection features the artist’s ob- servations of humanity’s attempt “to vainly fill in the void through acquisitions, schemes, conflicts, and codependency.”
“The gas mask, contrasting with either naked flesh or suggestive clothes, is a constant visual metaphor in all the works,” says Del Castillo. “A product designed to preserve life from chemical warfare, gaseous toxins, and toxic air particulates, the gas mask also covers
Many of the world’s philosophies and great religions have attempted to find an answer or claim to fill the great inner yearning—and that is the subject of ‘Void’
the face, the locus of identity, humanity, and morality.”
Del Castillo is unabashed about the candid nature of his new works. “I feel that my art right now is more mature and deeper than the previous works,” he said. “As it evolves to become more personal, it removes boundaries. I now do pieces from the gut. It has become more candid, a genuine telling of a story in my life. As they usually say in Tagalog, isa
siyang hugot.” “Void” runs until July 29 at the Provenance Art Gallery, Retail Unit 2F9, Shangri-La at the Fort, 30th Street corner 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.