Alfonso Castillo

In spite of the recurrence of the subject in the work of numerous artists, the ways to approach it do not show evidence of having been closed off, but rather the opposite is happening, and they continue in perpetual opening.
“La persistencia y el juego” (“Persistence and Games”), recently shown at the Centro Cultural Recoleta, illustrates what has been stated above. The show brings together a part of photographer Alfonso Castillo’s recent production, whose axis gravitates around the cities that he has toured and experienced. Perhaps, this latter sense could be linked to what in the French language is called flaneur, a term that refers to the subject who bases his experience upon wandering, with no destination in mind, through the urban space.
The production he presents seems to align, formally, with the geometric tradition that dwells on photography, and of which Paul Strand is an emblematic example. Castillo’s eye abstracts fragments of the city and endows them with entity of their own, but always leaving traces of totality.
Another procedure related to his artistic display appears centered on the repetition of elements, which generates a sort of photographic weft which, on occasions, is based on the reflection provided by architecture itself. All of this grounded upon a precise composition and an expressive and rigorous use of color; but also on the choice of an adequate format that finds its correlation in an exquisite care of copy making.
On the other hand, the curatorship of Victoria Verlichak deserves to be highlighted for her rigorous selection of the works, as well as her effective staging design.