Reputedly Illiterate: The Art Books of James Castle
On exhibit at the AIGA National Design Center through May 12,
2000
About the artist
An untutored, visionary artist born deaf to a frontier family at
the turn of the 20th century, James Castle (Idaho, 1900–1977)
produced an astonishing variety of hermetic, graphically coded
drawings, books and objects in a career spanning more than 50
years.
Previously known only to museum curators, art dealers and
collectors in the Pacific Northwest, James Castle's work has more
recently appeared in New York's Outsider Art Fairs, where it has
once again been hailed for its artistic merit and graphic
innovation. The work of this American original is being introduced
to new audiences through the AIGA exhibition, and by a separately
organized exhibition called “James Castle: House Drawings” that is
being held concurrently at the Drawing Center in SoHo.
About the exhibition
“Reputedly Illiterate” includes 87 Castle books-twice as many as
have ever been displayed before. Of these works, 77 have never been
on exhibit. The exhibition also includes an important selection of
key artworks figured with enigmatic codes, symbolic figures and
haunting letterforms. Castle found source materials in the rural
post office and general store his family operated from their home.
Through the mail and from the family's bookshelves, the artist
culled liturgical calendars, almanacs, farm journals and mail-order
catalogues and transformed them into art.
Castle's books often feature postcard scenes, portraits and
representations of postage stamps, commercial goods and household
objects. His encyclopedic drawings contain what appear to be
personal stories concerning himself and his family. In addition,
Castle drew books within the pages of his books. They are often
titled for the most visible graphic element in their
design-generally a segment of advertising or packaging used on the
cover.
Related programming
The gallery will feature daily screenings of the close-captioned
video biography Dreamhouse: The Art & Life of James Castle.
About the curator
Castle biographer Tom Trusky is director of the Hemingway
Western Studies Center at Boise State University and coordinator of
the Idaho Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of
Congress Center for the Book.