Rick Castro Explained

Rick Castro
Birth Date:20 July 1958
Birth Place:Los Angeles, California
Field:Photography

Rick Castro (July 20, 1958) is an American photographer, motion picture director, stylist, curator and writer whose work focuses on BDSM, fetish, and desire.[1]

Early life

Castro began work as a fashion stylist and clothing designer. Over the years, he worked for as a stylist on fashion shoots and designed clothing for Marlene Stewart, Bette Midler, David Bowie, Herb Ritts,[2] the style agency Cloutier, George Hurrell, Interview magazine, GQ magazine, Vanity Fair magazine, Rolling Stone magazine, I-D magazine, Tina Turner and John Leguizamo. Castro was the designer for Michele Lamy's first menswear collection- Lamy Men, (1986-1989).[3] [4]

Photographic career

In 1986, photographer Joel-Peter Witkin took him to purchase his first camera in Albuquerque. In 1988, at the age of 30, Castro became a freelance photographer, and his work appeared in the Los Angeles gay news magazines Frontiers,[5] Drummer[6] and the national gay news magazine, The Advocate.[7] [8] [9]

Throughout the years, Castro has had a number of exhibitions, including "Furotica: It Ain't Exactly Bambi" at the Track 16 gallery in Los Angeles, 2003.[10]

Castro's work is collected by the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, and the Tom of Finland Foundation.[11]

His 1994 short film of hustler interviews inspired Bruce LaBruce to film Hustler White with Tony Ward. Castro collaborated on the film as writer and co-director with LaBruce.[12] In 1998, he appeared in Sex/Life in L.A. Jochen Hick's adult documentary about the sex lives of the men who make L.A. adult movies.[13] [14] Castro has directed a number of other short films and a documentary, Plushies & Furries, (2001) for MTV.[15]

Castro's first gallery opened at Les Duex Cafes, Hollywood, in 2002, and premiered the first Furry themed art show. In 2005 Castro founded Antebellum Gallery,[16] the only fetish art gallery in America, which he ran from 2005 to 2017.

Castro shot the F/W look book 2014 for designer Rick Owens using his 93-year-old father Al Castro as the featured model.[17]

During October, 2015, Rick Castro received an artist lifetime Achievement award from the Tom of Finland foundation.[18] Castro's photography was featured in Rick Owens: Subhuman, Inhuman, Superhuman at Triennale di Milano, December 2017- March 2018.[19] Castro was interviewed by his former boyfriend, designer Rick Owens for the May 2019 issue of Autre Magazine,[20] and featured in the historic first queer issue of Los Angeles Magazine, June 2019.[21] Castro is contributing photographer and writer for Another[22] and Anotherman Magazines UK.[23]

Castro created a virtual memorial entitled The Goddess Bunny Story,[24] for one of his early models, Sandie Crisp, AKA The Goddess Bunny,[25] who died of COVID-19 on 27, January, 2021.

Three of Castro's large scale images were featured in Illuminate LA’s Collective Memory Installation, Grand Park, Los Angeles, February/March 2023.[26]

Castro was one of the featured artists presenting a slide show of his photography and lecture for Queering The Lens at The Getty Center, kicking off Pride, June 2023.[27]

"Rick Castro Forever"[28] [29] was presented at Hollywood Forever Cemetery at the historic columbarium, October 5th through November 30th, 2024. Castro's photography brought queer sensibility to Hollywood Forever.[30], "Columbarium Continuum: by Rick Castro", is an ongoing unique museum hosted at Hollywood Forever.[31] [32]

Castro was part of a history group exhibition, Queer-ish presented at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery,[33] Scripps College, Claremont during November/December, 2023.[34]

During 2023 and 2024, Castro was featured in Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines.[35] This exhibition featured 1400 items from zine creators from 1970 to the present day.

In 2024, Castro's photography were featured in Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival at Halle am Berghain, Berlin,[36] and Vitam Picturarum (Life in Pictures) sponsored by WeHo Arts Festival, West Hollywood.[37]

Castro's first solo exhibition entitled Las Trece Vidas de Rick Castro, (The Thirteen Lives of Rick Castro) premiered in August 2024 at Galeria HGZ, Querétaro.[38]

Published books

. Rick Castro . 13 Years of Bondage: The Photography of Rick Castro. . Bondage Series . 2004 . Los Angeles: Fluxion Editions . 0-9672129-4-4.

. Rick Castro . Castro . Bondage Series . 1991 . Los Angeles: Tom of Finland Foundation . 1-879055-27-9.

He has also self-published the following hand-made books:

Filmed works

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Castro, Rick . Rick Castro

    . Rick Castro . 13 Years of Bondage: The Photography of Rick Castro. . Bondage Series . 2004 . Los Angeles: Fluxion Editions . 0-9672129-4-4.

  2. Web site: Meet the Model Who Dated Madonna and Played Film's Most Famous Gigolo . 14 December 2018 .
  3. Web site: On the Feminization of Menswear. Vaginal. Davis. March 15, 2000. LA Weekly.
  4. Web site: The Odd Couple. July 16, 2015.
  5. Web site: 2019-04-28 . GAY L.A. – Who Is Rick Castro? . 2024-02-26 . The Pride LA . en-US.
  6. Web site: Rick Castro | Fetish King. Flaunt Magazine.
  7. News: Advocate Editor and Author Mark Thompson Remembered for Grasp of Gay Spirit. 2016-08-13. 2018-07-31. en.
  8. Web site: Artist Spotlight: Rick Castro. 2011-03-17. Advocate. en. 2020-01-25.
  9. Web site: 10 Photos Prove Fetish King Rick Castro Fights Censorship. 2019-03-29. Advocate. en. 2020-01-25.
  10. Web site: TRACK 16 GALLERY, Aaron Noble and Andrew Schoultz, Wall Paintings, and FUROTICA: It Ain't Exactly Bambi. www.archive.track16.com. 2019-10-02.
  11. Web site: ToFF Gallery . 2024-02-26 . Tom of Finland Foundation . en-US.
  12. Web site: Who Runs the World?. www.artforum.com. 22 May 2017 . en-US. 2018-07-31.
  13. News: H. . W. . Film review: Sex Life in L.A. . 20 November 2018 . Time Out London . en.
  14. Terri Ginsberg and Andrea Mensch (Editors)
  15. Web site: Plushies & Furries .
  16. News: In the Galleries: Black & White Pride. 2014-07-09. 2018-07-31. en.
  17. Web site: Rick Castro: beyond the fetish frontier. Dazed. 2014-10-17. Dazed. en. 2019-09-30.
  18. Web site: ToFF Gallery : Tom of Finland Foundation .
  19. Web site: Rick Owens. Barneys New York. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20190930141945/https://www.barneys.com/product/rick-owens-rick-owens-3a-subhuman-2c-inhuman-2c-superhuman-505847601.html. 2019-09-30. September 30, 2019.
  20. Web site: RICK CASTRO — Interviewsmain Autre Magazine. Autre Magazine. 6 April 2019 .
  21. Web site: These L.A. Artists Are Bringing Queer Perspectives Into Focus. Blum. Steven. 2019-05-20. Los Angeles Magazine. en-US. 2019-09-30.
  22. Web site: Rick Castro . deviated . https://web.archive.org/web/20221018171733/https://www.anothermag.com/user/RickCastro . October 18, 2022 . Another Man Magazine. 2023-07-17 .
  23. Web site: Rick Castro . deviated . https://web.archive.org/web/20221014111920/https://www.anothermanmag.com/userlist/RickCastro . October 14, 2022 . Another Man Magazine. 2023-07-17.
  24. Web site: The Goddess Bunny Story .
  25. Web site: A Tribute to Goddess Bunny, Hollywood's Disabled Trans Art Star . 11 February 2021 .
  26. Illuminate LA’s Collective Memory Installation
  27. Web site: Getty and LA Pride Present: Queering the Lens .
  28. Web site: Hollywood Forever is alive with photographer Rick Castro's work . November 2023 .
  29. Web site: 10 Shows to See in Los Angeles in November . November 2023 .
  30. Web site: 2023-11-01 . Hollywood Forever is alive with photographer Rick Castro's work . 2024-02-26 . KCRW . en.
  31. Web site: Exhitions . February 11, 2024 . Hollywood Forever.
  32. Web site: Instagram .
  33. Web site: Queer-ish: Photography and the LGBTQ+ Imaginary EXHIBITION OPENING Scripps College in Claremont, California . 2024-02-26 . Events . en.
  34. Web site: Gonzales-Day . Ken . 2023-10-28 . Scripps: Queer-ish . 2024-02-26 . Ken Gonzales-Day . en-US.
  35. Web site: Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines . 2024-02-26 . www.brooklynmuseum.org . en.
  36. Web site: Tom of Finland Art & Culture Fair 2024 : Tom of Finland Foundation .
  37. Web site: Vitam Picturarum (Life in Pictures) Exhibition .
  38. Web site: Las Trece Vidas de Rick Castro .
  39. Web site: Cruising Santa Monica Boulevard with the fetish photographer who shot L.A.'s male hustlers . . 7 September 2023 .
  40. Web site: Event Pick: Vaginal Davis on Video in Fertile La Toyah Jackson: Volume 1. Lecaro. Lina. 2019-09-06. LA Weekly. en-US. 2020-01-25.