ARTIST STATEMENT
Because they hide for so long, only to eventually emerge, their screams inescapable.
Layers upon layers, intersections, and complications.
How identities and paintings are made.
The male gaze on the male figure.
Is it subversion, perversion, or worship?
Let’s talk about “everyone knows but nobody talks about it”.
You escape one prison only to be assaulted by machismo, racism, and homophobia.
Is that why the chicharra resonates with me?
Because its life cycle is so much like the coming out process.
Which, by the way, never ends.
No offense, but are you gay?
Well, hello to you too.
It’s cool if you are, just don’t hit on me, bro.
Top or bottom?
Bitch, I might be.
Sorry. How are you?
Gay, thanks.
BIO
Angel Castelán is a multidisciplinary artist who sources imagery from his everyday life as well as his Mexican heritage and queer identity. He earned both his BFA (Painting), with a minor in Art History, and his MFA in Painting from the University of Houston. Castelán has shown his work throughout Houston, including the Holocaust Museum, the Blaffer Art Museum, and Lawndale Art Center. He currently has a studio at BOX 13 ArtSpace and is represented by Hooks-Epstein gallery in Houston.