Vincent Castiglia (born April 8, 1982 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and tattoo artist. His work includes "Stings of the Lash", "Remedy for the Living" and "As Gods".

Personal life

Castiglia describes his paintings as crystallizations of his experiences, freed from the psyche. He derives his inspiration from his personal experiences which categorizes his work as allegorical. Vincent, in the privacy of his studio, practices a kind of modern day phlebotomy, siphoning the life force which contains his own psychic energy and transforms it into a creative outlet. His work is heavily focused on the symbiosis of birth and death, the transience of human beings the pitfalls of

mortality Mortality is the state of being mortal, or susceptible to death; the opposite of immortality. Mortality may also refer to: * Fish mortality, a parameter used in fisheries population dynamics to account for the loss of fish in a fish stock throug ...

and Mysticism. Castiglia has credited his 2009 album art for Triptykon as "a project of enormous depth for me, conceptually as well as visually. I think the resonance between Triptykon's music,

Giger Giger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Albert Giger (born 1946), Swiss cross-country skier * Fabrice Giger (born 1965), Swiss publisher and film producer * H. R. Giger (1940–2014), Swiss painter, sculptor, and set designer ...

's art and my work is extremely powerful, and it coalesces in quite an amazing, and singular way." Castiglia designed a specially created portrait of the members of the group, painted in his own blood. Singer and guitarist Tom Gabriel Fischer commended Vincent's work for Triptykon's album Eparistera Daimones and has expressed that he feels "infinitely grateful that he has lent us his incredible talent, not least because I know he incorporates as much passion, darkness and pain into his work as I do, too." On his work being having been exclusively painted in human blood, Castiglia has said,

Career

Castiglia's paintings are described as "

monochromatic A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or color scheme, palette is composed of one color (or lightness, values of one color). Images using only Tint, shade and tone, shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or Black and wh ...

tableaux examining life, death, and the human condition" on his official website. Castiglia is the first American artist to receive a solo exhibition invitation from Oscar Award-winning artist,

H.R. Giger Hans Ruedi Giger ( ; ; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as " biomechanical". Giger later abandoned airbrush for pastels, mark ...

, to exhibit at the

Museum, in Gruyeres, Switzerland. ''Remedy for the Living'', the 1st solo exhibition of paintings by Vincent Castiglia opened at the H.R. Giger Museum Gallery on November 1, 2008, and closed in April 2009. In 2009, Vincent painted album art for

Triptykon Triptykon is a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich, formed in 2008 by Thomas Gabriel Fischer, founding member of the pioneering heavy metal music, heavy metal bands Hellhammer (band), Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and Apollyon Sun. History Fisch ...

's 2010 debut release, '' Eparistera Daimones''. The group is founded by former Hellhammer /

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their strong influence on the development of extreme metalBukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal''. Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2003. p.43 and avant-ga ...

singer and guitarist

Tom Gabriel Fischer Thomas Gabriel Fischer (born 19 July 1963), also known by his stage names of Tom G. Warrior and Satanic Slaughter, is a Swiss metal music, metal musician. He led the groups Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, and today is the frontman of the band Trip ...

. The album's art is an amalgamation of works by HR Giger (cover art), Vincent Castiglia (interior art), and Triptykon on "Eparistera Daimones". Castiglia's works on paper have been exhibited internationally and have been hung in many distinguished collections. In 2009, "Gravity", one of his most celebrated works of 2006, was acquired by rock musician, Gregg Allman. In 2010, Castiglia's art was featured on the official poster for the MTV New Media Horror-Slasher Film, Savage County. Recently, in 2016, Castiglia painted a custom ESP electric guitar for Gary Holt of both

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

and

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

. This is a fully functional piece of art that is often played onstage by Gary. The Guitar, titled, " Lucifer," was painted exclusively in 18 viles of Gary's own blood. Shortly thereafter, Slayer also commissioned Castiglia to paint them a poster for their farewell tour, "Farewell". His surrealist work has been lauded by critics and has been compared to the works of artists such as Michelanglo, Damien Hirst and Francis Bacon. Another critic has said the following of his work, In 2018, a documentary film directed by John Borowoski, titled "Bloodlines: The Art and Life of Vincent Castiglia", was released. This film dived into Vincent's healing process and recovery, and his artwork.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Westchester County Center for the Arts

''Psychocosm'', Solo Exhibition, September 2014, White Plains, New York

Sacred Gallery

''Resurrection'', Solo Exhibition, October, 2012, New York, New York

Meta Gallery

''Sacrifices For The Sanguinary Age'', Solo Exhibition, September, 2010, Toronto, Canada

Last Rites Gallery

''Anathema'', Vincent Castiglia And Shawn Barber, December, 2008, New York, New York

H.R Giger Museum Gallery

''Remedy For The Living'', Solo Exhibition, November 1St, 2008 – March 2009, Gruyeres, Switzerland

Group exhibitions

Invitational: Tarot Under Oath

''Last Rites Gallery'', January, 2014, New York, New York

Invitational: Taboo

''Last Rites Gallery'', July, 2012, New York, New York

Invitational: The Society For Art Of Imagination

''Phantesten Museum'', March, 2012, Vienna, Austria

Invitational: The Damned Show

''Hastings Ballroom / Curated By Tangent Gallery'', October 2010, Detroit, Michigan

Invitational: Blood, Sweat, And Fears

''Sacred Gallery'', October, 2010, New York, New York

Invitational: The Black Plagu

''Congregation Gallery'', July, 2010, Los Angeles, California

References

External links

Official siteVincent Castiglia InterviewMovie about Castiglia's art and lifeGary Holts Custom ESP Guitar painted by Castiglia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castiglia, Vincent Living people Visionary artists American tattoo artists 1982 births Painters from Brooklyn Male tattoo artists