Leslie Moody Castro

"The challenge and content that is built into an alternative space allows my work to respond and accentuate nuances of a history."

I'm interested in working with a building that shows its lifetime — that is an architecture of histories and stories and memories that collide with the present.

"There is not one singular narrative for any place or 'community' — each person carries a perspective that can be honored if met with humility."

Thank goodness for Bartlett's people.

"I look forward to hearing stories and to learning the experiences from the Black communities in the town."

We should be skeptical of first appearances, because like any place that has history and memory, Bartlett is neither abandoned, nor anywhere near a ghost town.

This is the Pop Art of Brownsville, Texas — an enigmatic, idiosyncratic place few understand, but where many live.

What happens to the character of these small towns as our city-folk manifest the desire to expand, and as our art centers become more and more decentralized because of it?

Bartlett is in a moment in which the collision of its anachronisms may end up mapping what its future can be. 

This series will be a document of the journey as we move toward building an exhibition that is both relevant to the residents of the town, and a marker of the town’s possible future. 

"My relationship with the border has led to the quest of understanding the space of the borders by attempting to materialize an intangible exchange."

While the pandemic was certainly not a part of the conceptual planning for the show, it has become a major protagonist in the unsettling timeliness of the exhibition itself.

"I started to think about the gallery as a huge studio that allowed for these gestures of gravity to really be taken to an architectural scale."

El siguiente texto es la tercera parte de tres crónicas de arte y viaje escritas por la autora y curadora, Leslie Moody Castro.

Casi de inmediato todo se volvió más complicado en Monterrey.

"Do we seek to embrace or to dominate? Do we seek a thoughtful exchange of ideas or simply to impose our own?"

Pero eso es parte de lo que hace atractiva a Guadalajara: antes de darte cuenta ya estás sumergida en la vibra de la ciudad y luego dejas ahí a una familia metafórica aún más grande.

"When I first encountered performance I felt the power and impact that it can create."

The current solo show by Adrian Armstrong at Co-Lab Projects in Austin directly addresses mental health issues often overlooked in African American culture.

Painter Ana Segovia of Mexico City has been in Austin through July, participating in the Unlisted Projects Residency as hosted by the Museum of Human Achievement.