Biography / CV
b. 1990, Dallas, Texas
Living & Working in Upstate New York
Pronouns: he/him/his & they/them/theirs
Ruben Castillo is a visual artist and educator investigating themes of intimacy, queerness, archival history, and the body using a range of media including print, drawing, installation, sculpture, and video. His most recent imagery draws from photographs and documents, seeing the ordinary as a site for transformative potentials and connections.
Castillo’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally at venues such as Print Center New York (NY), the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (KS), the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (MO), Petaluma Art Center (CA), Haw Contemporary (MO), Semillas Galeria (MN), Highpoint Center for Printmaking (MN), Zygote Press (OH), Blowing Rock Art & History Museum (NC), Big Medium (TX), Front Gallery (LA), San Dao Gallery (Wuhan, China), and Doosung Paper Gallery (Seoul, Korea) among others. His work has been collected widely, both privately and publicly at institutions such as the Museum of Texas Tech (TX), Brooklyn Art Library (NY), Crossroads Hotel (MO), Mexic-Arte Museum (TX), Mulvane Art Museum (KS), National Museum of Mexican Art (IL), Queer.Archive.Work (RI), Zuckerman Museum of Art (GA), The Turner Print Museum (CA), and the Thomas J. Watson Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY), among others. In 2023 he received the Charlotte Street Foundation Visual Art Award and was a finalist for the 21C Kansas City Artadia Award.
Ruben was born in Dallas, TX and received his MFA in Visual Art from the University of Kansas and a BFA in Printmaking from the Kansas City Art Institute. He has taught printmaking and drawing at the Kansas City Art Institute (MO) and Johnson County Community College (KS).
He is currently an Assistant Professor of Printmaking in the Art Department at Skidmore College (NY) and is the Co-managing Editor of the Mid America Print Council Journal. A selection of his work is available through Uprise Art.
rubenbcastillo at gmail dot com
(For a complete CV, please email me directly.)
SOLO & TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2022
Spring Awakening: Recent Works 2018 - 2021, Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, Cape Girardeau, MO2021
One Week in Spring, Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS2019
(South) Eastern Pole, Eastern Pole, Fayetteville, AR (organized by Breanne Trammell)Feeling Comfort, Decade Coffee, Lawrence, KS
2017
For One, In A Shared Room, Haw Contemporary, Kansas City, MO2016
Ruben Castillo: Recent Works, Beco Flowers, Kansas City, MO2014
Landscapes + Figures: Derek Dobbins + Ruben Castillo, Roeland Park City Hall, Roeland Park, KS2012
Ruben Castillo: Body Vernacular, Leopold Gallery, Kansas City, MOGROUP/JURIED/INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
2022
The Law For Falling Bodies: A Queer Print Media Exhibition, Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, MO (Curators: Shawn Bitters & Matthew Willie Garcia)Finding & Feeling: Encounters in the Archive, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH
KC Prints, Carter Art Center Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Lamplighters, Vulpes Bastille, Kansas City, MO (organized by Adams Puryear)
Stand Out Prints 2022, Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Minneapolis, MN (Juror: William Villalongo)
Art Fair, Charlotte Street Foundation Booth, MdW Assembly, Mana Contemporary, Chicago, IL
Queer Ecology Hanky Project, Zygote Press, Columbus, OH
Pink Sugar Heart Attack, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN
Pop Up: Queer Printmaking and Futurity, Artlofts, Back Art Space, Madison, WI (Jurors: Ash Armenta & Becca Owen)
Tejanos: Rooted Here, Beatrice M. Haggerty Art Gallery, University of Dallas, Irving, TX
ARTIFACT [BOLD], The Sechrest Gallery of Art, High Point University, High Point, NC (Juror: Meena Khalil)
2021
Beautiful World(s): KCAI Biennial, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO The 32nd Annual International Small Print Show, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, IL (invited by Deborah Lader)
run, run, quiet., Plug Gallery, Kansas City, MO
#mapchistoryshow: Revisitations & Reverberations, Mid America Print Council 2021 Virtual Exhibitions, Online (curated by Phyllis McGibbons)
2021 Kansas City Flatfile & Digitalfile, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO
Queer Ecology Hanky Project, Women’s Studio Workshop, Kingston, NY (Organized by Vanessa Adams and Mary Tremonte with Guest Curators Eriko Hattori, Bekezela Mguni, and Andrea Narno)
Kind of Bluets: 33 Great Moments in Color (Aid) Commentary, screening for “Quarantine Inside the
White Cube”, 2021 College Art Association, Online (organized by Breanne Trammell)
Parsing Dreams, Printmakers Open Forum Broadside Salon, Online (Curated by Adam Finkelston & James Meara)
2020
For Rosalie: Eggcups & More, Ruddell Gallery, Black Hills State University, Spearfish, South Dakota (curated by Michael Baum)2020 MAPC Members’ Exhibition, Center for Visual Arts Gallery, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio (Juror: Imin Yeh)
Intaglio Online Exhibition, Megalo Print Studio + Gallery, Canberra, Australia, Online (August 2020)
What’s In Your Queue?, Straightline Studio, Snowmass Village, CO (curated by Teal Roberts Wilson)
Traveling exhibition, International Art Education Excellent Colleges Exhibition (organized by The Library of Shandong University of Art & design and Beijing Art A&B co, ltd
San Dao Gallery, Wuhan, China
Doosung Paper Gallery, Seoul, South KoreaVirtual Art Fair, Brooklyn Virtual Art Book Fair, Queer.Archive.Work, Online (June 2020)
Virtual Art Fair, The Pandemic Faire, Online (June 2020, ongoing)
2019
7th Annual International Juried Print Exhibition, Remarque/New Grounds Print Workshop, Albuquerque, NM2019 MAPC Members' Juried Exhibition, The Bolivar Gallery, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (Juror: Yoonmi Nam)
Contemporary History: Queering the Narrative, Ivy House Gallery & Studios, Champaign, IL
Disegno: On the Importance of Drawing, Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS (curated by Nazanin Amiri Meers)
Pink: An Exploration, Zarrow Center for the Arts & Education, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Now/Here, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO (curated by Silvia Beatriz Abisaab)
26th Annual Parkside National Print Exhibition, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, WI (Juror: Sarah Smelser)
Queer Autonomy, Second Floor Pfizer Building, Brooklyn, NY (curated by Hank Ehrenfried and Devin Utah)
Traveling exhibition, Tejanos: The Border Crossed Us
Texas Christian University Project Space, Dallas, TX (for Texchange: SGC International 2019)The Contemporary Print, Big Medium, Austin, TX (Juror: Dr. Anna Katherine Brodbeck; Juror's award selection: The Gamblin Art Award; catalogue)
Educational Print Gallery, Cedar Valley College, Lancaster, TX
Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO
Ben Bailey Art Gallery, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX
Fundraiser, Hot Hands 2019, The Drugstore, Kansas City, MO (invited)
2018
run riot, Plug Projects, Kansas City, MOCruel Optimism, Gallery 115, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO
REALITY: P&M Artworks Juried Exhibition, Leedy Voulkos Art Center, Kansas City, MO (Jurors: Erin Dziedzic & Marcus Cain)
Can't Take You Anywhere, Resident Arts, Columbia, MO (Jurors: Fidencio Fifield-Perez & Anna Wehr)
The Printed Image 7, Alice C. Sabatini Gallery, Topeka, KS (Juror: Melanie Yazzie)
"Sounds of the City" River Market Regional Exhibition, Kansas City Artist Coalition, Kansas City, MO (Juror: Saralyn Reece Hardy)
ALL TERRAIN, La Esquina Gallery, Kansas City, MO (curated by RADAR/Madeline Gallucci)
Charlotte Street Foundation Program Exhibition, SPIVA Center for the Arts, Joplin, MO (curated by Patrick Alexander)
Exhibition: Illuminating the Queer Experience, InterUrban ArtHouse, Overland Park, KS
2018 Kansas City Flatfile & Digitalfile, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas CIty, MO
Passage, Fraction Gallery, Kansas City, MO
Got It For Cheap Kansas City, The Drugstore, Kansas City, MO
Impressions: An Exploration of Contemporary Printmaking, Artworks Gallery, Loveland, CO (Juror: Johnny Plastini)
2017
Preservation, Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KSConvergence: Juried Student Art Show, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS (Juror: Spencer Museum Student Advisory Board)
2016
Fresh Ink: Annual Juried Print Exhibition, Wonder Fair, Lawrence, KS (Juror: Katie Baldwin)2016 Kansas City Flatfile Exhibition, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO
Unfolding: Holding a Course, traveling exhibition
University of Wyoming, Laramie, WYVisual Arts Graduate Students Exhibition, Chalmers Hall Gallery, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, OK
Plymouth State University, Plymouth, NH
Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, Blowing Rock, NC
2015
A Show of Hands, A1LabArts Gallery at the Center for Creative Minds, Knoxville, TN (catalogue) (co-curated by Adam Finkelston and James Meara)Do You Copy?, Potter Gallery, Missouri Western State University, St. Joseph, MO (co-curated by Adam Finkelston and James Meara)
2014
Print Camp, Union Gallery, Lawrence, KSVisual Arts Graduate Students Exhibition, University of Kansas Art & Design Gallery, Lawrence, KS
KC+ Connect: June Group Exhibition, Weinberger Fine Art, Kansas City, MO (curated by Ash Anders)
2013
One, Two: a Group Exhibition, Vulpes Bastille, Kansas City, MO2012
Gorilla Event, City Ice Arts Building, Kansas City, MO2012 Kansas City Flatfile Invitational Biennial Exhibition, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO
KCAI Annual BFA Exhibition, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO
Now Knowing, Cara and Cabezas Contemporary, Kansas City, MO (curated by CJ Schrat)
XOXO Salon Show, Spray Booth Gallery, Kansas City, MO (curated by Andrew Lyles)
2011
Who Am I?, Galería Jesús Gallardo, Guanajuato, MexicoCommon Ground: a KCAI Printmaking Exhibition, Boxcar Gallery,” Independence, MO
America: Now and Here, Artist Corp Group Show, Cocoon Gallery, Kansas City, MO
16th Annual Undergraduate College Student Exhibition, Kansas City Artists
Coalition, Kansas City, MO (Juror: Jackie Warren)
Temporary Existence, Central Michigan University Park Library, Mt. Pleasant, MI
2010
Differences and Discourse, Keyhole Gallery, Kansas City, MOWhat I am Making Right Now is What I was Thinking Last Week, KU 3rd Floor Display Cases & KCAI
Printmaking Gallery, Lawrence, KS & Kansas City, MO
2009
Print Magic, The Foundation Building, Kansas City, MODia de los Muertos, Mattie Rhoades, Kansas City, MO
Mapping, KCAI Printmaking Department., Kansas City, MO
ARTIST RESIDENCIES & OPPORTUNITIES
2022
Artist-in-residence, In Cahoots Residency, Petaluma, CA Artist-in-residence, Spring Pentaculum 2022, Arrowmont School of Craft, Gatlinburg, TN
2021
Project Residency, July Printmaking Artist-in-residence, Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS2018
2018-2019 Charlotte Street Foundation Studio Residency, Kansas City, MO (September 2018 - September 2019)2017
2017-2018 Charlotte Street Foundation Studio Residency, Kansas City, MO (September 2017 - September 2018)2013
Landfall Institute of Graphic Arts Printmaking Apprenticeship, Landfall Press Inc., Santa Fe, NM AWARDS, GRANTS, & FELLOWSHIPS
2022
Finalist, 21c Kansas City Artadia Award (Jurors: Daisy Nam, Curator, Ballroom Marfa, and Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi, Curatorial Assistant, Hammer Museum)Studio Assistantship (for All About Mokuhanga with Yoonmi Nam), Penland School of Craft
Staff Development Special Grants, Conference Attendance, Johnson County Community College ($700)
2019
The Contemporary Print Juror's Award: The Gamblin Art Award (Juror: Dr. Anna Katherine Brodbeck, Hoffman Family Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Dallas Museum of Art)2018
Honorable Mention, Reality: P&M Artworks Regional Exhibition (Jurors: Marcus Cain, artist, and Erin Dziedzic, Director of Curatorial Affairs, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO)Rivermarket Regional Exhibition Juror's Choice Award: Best in Show (Juror: Saralyn Reece Hardy, Marilyn Stokstad Director, Spencer Museum of Art, $1000)
2017
School of the Arts Research GrantUniversity of Kansas Lockwood Scholarship
2016
Anderson Ranch University Partnership ScholarshipSchool of the Arts Travel Grant
Graduate Teaching Assistantship Award
2015
Graduate Teaching Assistantship Award2014
University of Kansas Lockwood Scholarship2013
Landfall Institute of Graphic Arts ScholarshipCOLLECTIONS
Artist Printmaker Research Collection (AP/RC), Museum of Texas Tech, Lubbock, TX
Brooklyn Art Library, Brooklyn, NY
Central Michigan University, Printmaking Department, Mt. Pleasant, MI
Crossroads Hotel, Kansas City, MO
Frances Mulhall Achilles Library, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Kansas City Art Institute, Printmaking Department Archives, Kansas City, MO
Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin, TX
Mulvane Art Museum, Topeka, KS
National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL
Quarantine Public Library
Queer.Archive.Work, Providence, RI
Texas Christian University Print Collection, Fort Worth, TX
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
The Turner Print Museum, California State University, Chico, CA
University of Kansas Printmaking Department, Lawrence, KS
Whitman College, Printmaking and Book Arts Department, Walla Walla, WA
Zuckerman Museum of Art (SGCI Archives), Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA
PUBLIC LECTURES & PRESENTATIONS
2022
Lecture, “Art, Archives, and Queer History,” (with Stuart Hinds), Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, MOArtist Talk, The Law For Falling Bodies, Charlotte Street Foundation, Kansas City, MO
Panelist, “Crafting Inclusive Spaces,” Southern Graphics Council International 2022 Conference, Madison, WI (moderated by Becci Spruill)
Panelist, “Prints of Persuasion,” College Arts Association 2022 Conference, Online (moderated by Robert Howsare & Leekyung Kang)
2021
Panelist, “Niche: Queer Printmakers in Dialogue,” PrintAustin, 2021 PrintExpo Conference, Online (moderated by Veronica Ceci)2020
Panelist, “Alex Emmons | For Rosalie: Eggcups & More,” Vincennes University, OnlinePanel Co-chair (with Amy Cousins), “Queer Ephemera, Et Cetera: Encounters in the Archive,” Mid America Print Council 2020 Conference, Power of Print: Resistance & Revolution, Kent State University, Kent, OH (forthcoming)
2019
2019 Print Week Slide Slam, 8th Street Taproom, Lawrence, KS
Art Forum Visiting Artist Lecture Series, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS Panel Talk, (Insight Art Talk) Disegno: On the Importance of Drawing, Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS
Artist Talk, TNT (The Noon Thing): Materials and Process, H&R Block Artspace, Kansas City, MO
Open Studios, Charlotte Street Foundation Studio Residency, Town Pavilion, Kansas City, MO
2018
Reality Juried Exhibition: Speak ‘n Critique, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Kansas City, MOVisiting Artist Presentation series, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS
Cruel Optimism artist panel (with Melaney Mitchell and Kate Horvat), University of Central Missouri,
Warrensburg, MO
Open Studios, Charlotte Street Foundation Studio Residency, Town Pavilion, Kansas City, MO
Artist Talk, Charlotte Street Foundation Studio Resident 2018 Slide Slam, Capsule, Kansas City, MO
Artist Talk, Charlotte Street Foundation Program Exhibition, SPIVA Center for the Arts, Joplin, MO
Artist Talk, All Terrain, La Esquina, Kansas City, MO
2017
Artist Talk, Charlotte Street Foundation Studio Resident 2017 Slide Slam, Office Port, Kansas City, MOStudent Commencement Speaker, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
PUBLICATIONS AS AUTHOR
2019
“KC Arts Summit Summary,” Public Google Doc, July 2019.“On the Other Side: Reflections on William Plummer’s Passages to my Ā pó: Transplanted Joss,” Informality, June 2019.
“Beyond the Whiteness of Spaces: Finding Phenomenology, Race, and Queerness in Bricolaje,” Informality, April 2019.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2022
Lex Morgan Lancaster, The Law For Falling Bodies (Exhibition Text), Charlotte Street Foundation, 2022
Dylan Welch, Tressa Jones, Heather Parrish, eds, “Ruben Castillo,” MAPC Journal Repair 34/35 (2022): p31. https://midamericaprintcouncil.org/journals/MAPCJournal2022.pdf
“Meet Ruben Castillo,” VoyageKC, May 16, 2022. https://voyagekc.com/interview/meet-ruben-castillo-of-midtown-kansas-city/
Miranda Metcalf, “Episode 130: ruben castillo,” Hello, Print Friend, March 2, 2022. https://helloprintfriend.com/episode-130-ruben-castillo
2020
Berman, Laura, “Ruben Castillo,” Reflections on Color and Printmaking, December 3, 2020. https://www.reflectionsoncolor.com/interviews/ruben-castilloDessane Lopez Cassell, “The Virtual Brooklyn Art Book Fair Showcases New Artists’ Books, Zines, and More,” Hyperallergic, June 23, 2020. https://hyperallergic.com/572802/brooklyn-art-book-fair-virtual-edition/ Paul Soulellis, “Urgency Reader #2,” Queer.Archive.Work., Providence, RI, 2020
2019
Maria Vasquez Boyd, “Kian Byrne, Ruben Castillo, & Danielle Weigandt,” ARTSPEAK RADIO, KKFI 90.1 FM, April 10, 2019. http://www.kkfi.org/program-episodes/artspeak-radio-kian-byrne-ruben-castillo-danielle-weigandt/Maria Vasquez Boyd, “Bernadette Torres, Ruben Castillo, Sarah and Colin Walsh, & Kian Byrne,” ARTSPEAK RADIO, KKFI 90.1 FM, January 30, 2019. http://www.kkfi.org/program-episodes/artspeak-radio-ruben-castillo-sarah-walsh-kian-byrne/
2018
Thorson, Alice. “Ruben Castillo: Images of Intimacy.” KC Studio Vol. X, Issue 6 (November/December 2018): 98-107 http://kcstudio.org/artist-pages-ruben-castillo-images-of-intimacy/Boyd, Maria Vasquez. “Jonah Criswell, Mark Allen, and Mason Kilpatrick.” ARTSPEAK RADIO, KKFI 90.1 FM, July 4, 2018. http://www.kkfi.org/program-episodes/artspeak-radio-jonah-criswell-mark-allen-mason-kilpatrick/
Boyd, Maria Vasquez. “Slupski, Powers, Charlotte Street Foundation, Bach Aria Soloists, and The Rabbit Hole.” Artspeak Radio, KKFI 90.1 FM, April 18, 2018. http://www.kkfi.org/program-episodes/artspeak-radio-slupski-powers-charlotte-street-foundation-rabbit-hole/
Barcus, Jim. “Meet The Artists: The Charlotte Street Foundation’s 2017-18 Studio Residency Program.” KC Studio, posted March 1, 2018, (Accessed May 14, 2018) http://kcstudio.org/meet-artists-charlotte-street-foundations-2017-18-studio-residency-program/
2016
Informality Blog, “Roof Chill Episode 1 – Garry Noland,” posted July 11, 2016, (Accessed November 12, 2016) http://informalityblog.com/roof-chill-episode-1-garry-noland/2015
Adam Finkelston and James Meara, A Show of Hands (2015): 12Adam Finkelston and James Meara, The HAND Magazine Issue 7 (January 2015): 24
2014
Delaney Rayburn, “Art and Design grad students showcasing work in two-part show”, The University Daily Kansan, September 22, 2014, (Accessed November 12, 2016) https://www.kansan.com/arts_and_features/art-and-design-grad-students-showcasing-work-in-two-part/article_f7e43098-42c3-11e4-8904-47dfaebbe8eb.html2013
Adam Finkelston, James Meara, The HAND Magazine Issue 1 (July 2013): 4EXCHANGE PORTFOLIOS
2022
Co-organizer (with Amy Cousins) & Participant, “Finding & Feeling: Encounters in the Archive,” Themed portfolio exchange for 2022 MAPC Conference: Power in Print2021
“Pip,” 2021 KCAI Printmaking invitational exchange portfolio organized by the 2021 KCAI Printmaking senior class2020
“For Rosalie: Eggcups & More,” exchange portfolio organized by Alex Emmons2019
“Soothed & Subdued,” 2019 KCAI Printmaking invitational exchange portfolio organized by the 2019 KCAI Printmaking senior class"Tejanos: The Border Crossed Us," exchange portfolio organized by J. Leigh Garcia and Wendi Valladares for Texchange: SGCI Dallas, Dallas, TX (forthcoming)
"Revolt!: Retelling Kathe Kollwitz," exchange portfolio organized by David Spencer-Pierce and the Retelling Print Exchange series (forthcoming)
2017
"Preservation," exchange portfolio organized by Tressa Jones for the 2017 Lawrence Print Week, Lawrence Arts Center, Lawrence, KS2016
“Unfolding, Holding a Course,” exchange portfolio organized by Fawn Atencio, Songline Press, Denver, CO2010
“What I am Making Right Now is What I was Thinking Last Week,” exchange portfolio organized by the KCAI and KU Print departments.“Temporary Existence,” third annual exchange portfolio organized by Central Michigan University’s Print Club.
“Spirit Animal,” exchange portfolio organized by the KCAI Printmaking Department.