James Castle: House Drawings

Curated by Jay Tobler, House Drawings was the first New York exhibition of works by James Castle (1899 - 1977). The exhibition showcased the prodigious visual diary of home environments of the noted self-taught artist from Idaho. Together, these  intimate works (approximately one hundred drawings and paper constructions) presented a remarkable documentation of vernacular American domestic architecture, conveying a strong sense of the American West.

Diminutive in scale, Castle’s drawings typically measured just a few inches. His favorite subjects included exteriors and interiors of homes, domestic still-lifes, animals, human “friends,” and fantasy compositions influenced by calendars, kaleidoscopes, and advertisements. Castle worked with unusual artistic materials of his own devising. Though his family attempted to provide him with conventional supplies, the artist preferred a sharpened stick and a mixture of soot and saliva, occasionally grinding colored paper pulp into his compositions. He drew exclusively on found paper and cardboard, including cigarette packs, paper receipts, matchbooks, and box tops.

Castle created an epic documentation of the spaces in which he dwelled, conveying a palpable sense of place and time through the examination of the exterior views and interior details of the home. The installation ranged from sweeping outdoor views to interior minutiae, such as doorknobs, light switches, and tiny wallpaper fragments. Castle employed his gift of perfect perspective in astonishing fashion, framing compositions from unlikely, occasionally jarring vantage points. The Drawing Center exhibition marked the first opportunity to view such a large and complete selection of Castle’s drawings.