Claus Castenskiold

Doug Meyer, writer/painter/friend wrote
To enter into the world of Claus Castenskiold is to invite a riotous assault of emotion into the security of our most personal space. His turbulent oil paintings confront the human condition, stuck as we are amidst miracles and disasters, ecstasy and despair. The allegoric nature of Castenskiold's art allows him to address universal human predicaments, yet these works are also intensely personal evocations of his own internal dialogues that range from the jocular to the despairing.
Psychic torment, set against the paradox and absurdity of a collective paranoia, is a theme that runs through these paintings. Castenskiold captures this quality through the visual language of figuration and gesture, through his intense and highly expressive color, and even through his halos of fragmented pointillist brushstrokes, which give a dynamic energy to his compositions. In his visual scenarios the actions of the mind are made visible and are integrated into the "action" of his narratives. As in Rodin's The Thinker, the heroic human body is left paralyzed by the indecisive neutralizing forces of the brain.

As Castenskiold's visual dramas unfold before us they reveal the omnipresent internal negotiations we...

Bennington College, Bennington VT, USA. BA 83.
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn NY, USA. 1984.
Arts Center, Pasadena CA. USA. 1992

CLAUS CASTENSKIOLD, Exhibitions / Bibliography/ Film

Solo Exhibitions
Ojala Gallery, Echo Park CA. 2003
Trace Gallery, Los Angeles CA. 1992

Group Exhibitions
" Art About Music". Playa Del Rey, Santa Monica, CA 2017
"Color, Mind , and Form". Lucille Khornak Gallery, Southampton, NY 2016
“Group Show”, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2014
“Group Show”. Galopperiet, Copenhagen, Denmark. 2014
“Group Show”, Carl Berg Projects, Hollywood ,CA 2013
“Paintwork #3”. Borschardt Galerie, Hamburg, Germany 2011
“Paintwork # 2 ” .SW1 Gallery . London, UK. 2010
“Emerging Artists at Any Age”. LA Art House, West Hollywood. CA. 2009
“Paintwork” Gallery Praxis Hagen, Berlin, Germany 2006
“Group Show” Irvine Fine Arts, Orange County CA. 2006
“GroupShow”Santa Monica Contemporary Art Museum, Santa Monica CA 2003
“Wall Space”Mi...