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mad soldiers
march 24  april 23, 2011
vERNISSAGE
thursday march 24, 2011 6pm - 9pm
osvaldo ramirez castillo /
Mad Soldiers draws form a lexicon of imagery that Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo has developed in his practice, one that stems from a childhood in El Salvador during the civil war, while encompassing the symbolic aspects of folklore and mythology. If one looks to the juxtapositions in Ramirez Castillo’s work these themes become increasingly evident. Smiling robot-like militia, dolls and exuberant floral backdrops are interspersed with bloody bodies, mythological creatures and gruesome weapons. His title evokes the insanity of the scene and reminds one of the realities of child soldiers in Africa, where children are given weapons and trained and raised as killers. The often drug induced acts of these child soldiers provides an extremely bizarre combination, where the desires and interests of children: playing with dolls, dressing up, and surrounding oneself with laughter are met with death, gruesome bloodbaths, kidnapping and familial betrayal. In Mad Soldiers, Ramirez Castillo’s work plays out like a dreamscape albeit a nightmarish one, where the logical points of narrative; one event leading to another through time and space, are confused. Here everything seems to occur at once and the ramifications of this are significant, as this compression of time points to an essential aspect of his work: violence, injustice and war are ever present.
Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo, Mythological Prelude for Soyapango (detail), 2010, mixed media on mylar, 60” x 108”
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