For Immediate Release
February 14, 2005
Contact: Gemma de Santos
Tel. (713) 520-1200

Basque Artist, Naia del Castillo, Debuts Traps and Seduction
Photographs in the U.S. at the De Santos Gallery

FEBRUARY 26 - APRIL 2, 2005

Opening Reception: Saturday, February 26 th from 6-8pm

Artist's talk at 6:30pm

Houston--De Santos Gallery presents Traps and Seduction , two recent projects by the young Spanish photographer, Naia del Castillo, exhibiting in the U.S. for the first time. Traps and Seduction includes selections of work from her recent one-person museum exhibitions in the north of Spain at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Vitoria ( ATRIUM ) and the prestigious Sala Alcalá 31 in Madrid. Both venues published extensive catalogues available at the De Santos Gallery.

Del Castillo playfully subverts benign domestic objects into ambiguously erotic fashion statements. The Basque artist custom-designs seductive props out of blouses, bed linens, and night lights and reconfigures them into elegant straightjackets, pillowcase masks, and glowing night gowns. A gold-colored satin pillowcase covers the head of a woman and the pillow on which she is resting in Espacio Domestico - Cojin ( Domestic Space - Pillow ), 2000. Another ensemble binds a stylish young couple in Sin Título-Horas de Oficina , ( Untitled-Office Hours ), 2000, where a man and woman pose sideways, revealing their conjoined business suits. In addition, Del Castillo presents Retratos (Portraits ), a series of deadpan contemporary portraits done in the style of German photographer Thomas Ruff, who made banal large-scale color portraits all the rage in the 1980s. Like Ruff, Del Castillo presents her sitters plainly through simple clothing, lighting, and a white background. However, she subverts the portrait genre by dressing her sitters in identical white T-shirts and wrapping their faces with their own hair. Their identity and gender are masked through blonde, brunette, and auburn locks, coiffed like androgynous Medusas.

The thirty-year old Del Castillo is a Basque native who lives and works in Bilbao located in the North of Spain. She studied fine art in London where she earned a M.A. with honors at the Chelsea College of Art and Design (2000). Del Castillo majored in sculpture as an undergraduate at the Basque University in Spain. Over the past few years, the artist has captured the attention of numerous important photography fairs and festivals including ARCO , Madrid (2004, 2003, 2001), FIAC , Paris (2004), MACO , Mexico (2004), and the Festival de Printemps de Toulouse , France (2002). Her photographs are collected by numerous private collectors and major institutions such as The Caixa Foundation, the Malaga Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Vitoria Museum of Contemporary Arts ( ARTIUM) . Traps and Seduction marks her first one-person exhibition in the U.S. She has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions in Europe including the Biennial of London , 2000; Il Peso Virtuale , Pinerolo, Italy, 2002; Between Art and Fashion , Rome, Italy, 2003; and Arte Actual , the Dominican Republic, 2004.

About the De Santos Gallery

The De Santos Gallery is owned and directed by Luis and Gemma de Santos who are natives of Spain and long-time residents of Houston. They built the gallery with Houston architect Fernando Bravo who recently won the 2005 American Institute of Architects Design Award for this building design. The De Santos Gallery specializes in photography (including traditional and new media) from contemporary European and Asian photographers including Anna Halm-Schudel, Roman Loranc, Sang-Nam Park, and Kimiko Yoshida. The gallery also has work available by North American and Latin American artists: Clyde Butcher, Linda Butler, and Edgar Moreno among others.

The De Santos Gallery is located at 1724-A Richmond Avenue at Dunlavy Street in the museum district of Houston. Gallery hours are: Wednesday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, please call 713-520-1200 or visit www.desantosgallery.com .

Current and Upcoming Exhibitions at the De Santos Gallery:

Naia del Castillo: Traps and Seduction , Feb. 26 - Apr. 2, 2005.

Contemporary Pinhole Photography , Apr. 9 - May 14, 2005.

Gregori Maofis: Tarot Series and Other Works, May 21 - Jun. 25, 2005.