Luis Castro
Ese bolero es mio(recodando Felipe Pirela), 2001
maple
dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist

By shaping the actual tree, Luis Castro celebrates its physicality. Castro transformed a diseased maple tree that was removed from the grounds into fifty spheres ranging in diameter from 6" to 24". Working in the Abrons Woodland work area, Castro used a chain saw to make the shapes, and then sanded the balls to a smooth finish. The completed work, Ese bolero es mio(recodando Felipe Pirela), is located on the lawn adjacent to the Pergola. The sculpture takes its name from the title of a popular song by Venezuelan singer Felipe Pirela, meaning “this dance is mine.” Indoors, three sculptures are grouped on the gallery floor, which is covered with a layer of bright yellow osage orange wood shavings, filling the gallery with a forest scent.

Castro has had yearly solo exhibitions at Leighton Gallery in Blue Hill, ME from1996 to 2000. He has contributed to group exhibitions at Art in General, in New York, NY (Friendships in Arcadia: Writers and Artists at Yaddo in the 90's ) and at Wohlfarth Gallery in Provincetown, MA. Castro also exhibited his work in Gallery Korea, New York, NY in 1999. Castro has participated in residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Sweet Briar, VA (2001), the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH (2000), Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, NY (2000), and the Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY (1999). He received his B.A. in Architecture and his M.A. in Restoration and Conservation of Monuments from the Central University of Venezuela.