Emma Frank, manager of Castor Gallery Downtown, is pleased to present Strangers: an exhibition of work from Jesse Draxler, Anthony Goicolea, Mercedes Helnwein, Juan Miguel Palacios, and Krista Louise Smith.

Strangers will challenge what we recognize as human entities and the environments they inhabit. Drawing from concepts rooted in the writing of 19th and 20th century philosophers such as Sigmund Freud and Jean Paul Sartre, the exhibition psychoanalyzes our everyday sense of self versus others, or the “ego.” What is revealed is an unsettling vulnerability that we experience while navigating modern technology, consumerism, and interpersonal connections.

Jesse Draxler (b. 1983) is a Los Angeles-based artist primarily known for his poignant and unsettling collage and mixed media works. In seeking acceptance of the trauma that permeated his childhood, Draxler has developed what is best described as a “cathartic synesthesia.” The resulting work is dark, monochromatic, and compelling. He has shown worldwide at Doomed Gallery London, Galerie Joseph Paris, Joseph Gross Gallery NY, and most recently Tire Fire at Booth Gallery NY (solo). Commissioned clients include The New York Times and McQ Alexander McQueen.

Anthony Goicolea (b.1971) is an NY based multi-disciplinary artist who established himself in the late 1990s with a series of provocative self-portraits. His work ranges from photography, sculpture, and video, to multi-layered drawings on Mylar and large-scale installations. Goicolea holds an M.F.A. in sculpture and photography from Pratt Institute of Art. His art is held in many public collections, including those of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art, as well as the Hirshhorn Museum in D.C., the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; 21C Museum in Louisville KY, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art in NY. He was recently selected to create the first LGBT Memorial in the United States to be unveiled in the Hudson River Park at West 12th Street in NYC in the summer of 2018.

Mercedes Helnwein (b. 1979) is an LA/Ireland based artist, working mainly in oil pastel. Other mediums include oil, ink/graphite, photography and film. Subjects are taken from old photos or her own life, and rendered in oil pastel with menacing features to create scenes of simmering tension as if they are trapped in time. She has many other influences: Russian literature, film noir, American motel culture, and the Delta blues, to name a few. She has exhibited in Los Angeles, Europe, and most recently at Edward Hopper House in NY (solo). Publications include The Book of Disquiet (an immoral drama) with photographer Alex Prager.

Juan Miguel Palacios (b. 1973) is a Spanish artist currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Palacios creates a visual language for human emotions: mourning, abandonment, identity, restlessness, and displacement. His classical training with the renowned artist Amadeo Roca Gisbert provided the solid foundation for his figurative works. His thirst for new forms of expression led him to experiment with new materials, like torched drywall on vinyl present in his current series. He received his B.F.A. at Complutense University in Madrid. His solo exhibitions include Wounded at Lazarides in London and Uneasiness at the Rumney Guggenheim Gallery in NY.

Krista Louise Smith (b.1986) is an NY based painter originally from Canada. Her large-scale hyper-realistic works radiate female energy, delving into issues pertaining to power, voyeurism, and control. She is exclusively interested in painting women—using rigid poses and carefully manipulated lighting to portray them as if they are biological specimens. She received her M.F.A. from the New York Academy of Art. She has exhibited worldwide at Sotheby’s NY and Flowers Gallery NY, in addition to being an arts grant recipient at The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation and completing numerous residencies in NY and abroad.