James Castle: Thresholds
April 2, 2023–May 28, 2023, Vicki Netter Fitzgerald Gallery
Featuring more than fifty works, including rarely seen books and constructions drawn from the collection of the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation in Mount Kisco, New York, and the James Castle Collection and Archive in Boise, Idaho, this exhibition focuses on the artist’s interest in thresholds—the boundaries and in-between spaces that predominate in his work.
Rendering places both seen and imagined, often from memory, self-taught artist James Castle (American, 1899–1977) depicted his family’s home and immediate surroundings in rural Idaho over the course of five decades. At once familiar and otherworldly, Castle’s works of art capture seemingly quotidian subjects. They portray spare, atmospheric landscapes and structures such as barns, farmhouses, outbuildings, porches, and sheds, as well as detailed interior views of living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms containing only a few enigmatic objects. Meticulously rendered and intimate in scale, these images reflect what art historian John Beardsley has described as Castle’s “topography of intimacy.”
Born deaf, Castle was educated at the Idaho State School for the Deaf and the Blind but never learned to speak, read, or write. Family accounts reveal that Castle made art from a young age. An inveterate collector of things—catalogues, envelopes, food containers, matchboxes, newspapers, and packing materials he scavenged from his family’s property—Castle routinely incorporated found objects into his work. He also fashioned his own materials and tools. For instance, he developed a form of “ink” with a mixture of soot from the family stove moistened with his saliva, which he then applied with drawing implements such as nails, sharpened sticks, and wadded cotton, cloth, or paper. Highly prolific, Castle produced drawings, assemblages, collages, three-dimensional constructions, and text-based work, including cut-out words and illustrated books.
Featuring more than fifty works, including rarely seen books and constructions drawn from the collection of the William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation in Mount Kisco, New York, and the James Castle Collection and Archive in Boise, Idaho, this exhibition focuses on the artist’s interest in thresholds—the boundaries and in-between spaces that predominate in his work. Spatially ambiguous, Castle’s compositions depict wide open, slightly ajar, and closed doors; interior rooms opening onto adjacent ones; front porches and screen doors; and window views framed from within and outside, often represented from multiple perspectives. While indicative of the artist’s enduring interest in the built environment, these images may also reflect the artist’s own sense of in-betweenness as he navigated between Deaf and speaking worlds and the self-taught and mainstream artistic communities to which he belonged.
James Castle (American, 1899–1977)
Untitled (Red Door, Construction), n.d.
Found paper, soot, color, string, 12-1/2 x 8-1/4 in.
Courtesy James Castle Collection and Archive LP
© James Castle Collection and Archive LP. Image provided courtesy of the James Castle Collection and Archive, Boise, Idaho.
James Castle (American, 1899–1977)
Untitled (School Interior), 12 pp, n.d.
Found paper, soot, string, 3-3/8 x 3-1/8 in.
Courtesy James Castle Collection and Archive LP
© James Castle Collection and Archive LP. Image provided courtesy of the James Castle Collection and Archive, Boise, Idaho.
James Castle (American, 1899–1977)
Untitled (Interior), n.d.
Found paper, soot, string, 9-5/8 x 13-1/8 in.
Collection of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall
© James Castle Collection and Archive LP. Image provided courtesy of the James Castle Collection and Archive, Boise, Idaho.
James Castle (American, 1899–1977)
Untitled (Porch with Screen Door/Two Screen Doors), n.d.
Found paper, soot, 3-3/4 x 6-3/8 in. (double sided)
Collection of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall
© James Castle Collection and Archive LP. Image provided courtesy of the James Castle Collection and Archive, Boise, Idaho.
James Castle (American, 1899–1977)
Untitled (Farmscape/Shed Interior), n.d.
Found paper, soot, 14 x 21-3/8 in. (double sided)
Collection of Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall
© James Castle Collection and Archive LP. Image provided courtesy of the James Castle Collection and Archive, Boise, Idaho.
James Castle (American, 1899–1977)
Untitled (Open Doors with Black Knobs), n.d.
Soot and saliva, 7-7/8 x 10-1/2 in.
Louis-Dreyfus Family Collection
© James Castle Collection and Archive LP. Image provided courtesy of the James Castle Collection and Archive, Boise, Idaho.
James Castle (American, 1899–1977)
Untitled (Room Interior/Room Interior with Patterned Door), n.d.
Found paper, soot, ink, 5-1/8 x 7-1/8 in.
The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation
© James Castle Collection and Archive LP. Image provided courtesy of the James Castle Collection and Archive, Boise, Idaho.
James Castle (American, 1899–1977)
Untitled (Landscape), n.d.
Found paper, ink, center pinhole, 4-1/4 x 3-7/8 in.
The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation
© James Castle Collection and Archive LP. Image provided courtesy of the James Castle Collection and Archive, Boise, Idaho.
James Castle (American, 1899–1977)
Untitled (Landscape with Trees), n.d.
Found paper, soot, pencil, ink, pinhole in center, 10-1/4 x 13-1/8 in.
The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation
© James Castle Collection and Archive LP. Image provided courtesy of the James Castle Collection and Archive, Boise, Idaho.
James Castle (American, 1899–1977)
Untitled (Abstract), n.d.
Found paper, watercolor, 5-1/4 x 5-1/4 in.
The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation
© James Castle Collection and Archive LP. Image provided courtesy of the James Castle Collection and Archive, Boise, Idaho.
James Castle: Thresholds is generously underwritten by:
Harbor Lights Foundation
The Charles M. and Deborah G. Royce Exhibition Fund
Committee of Honor and Co-Chairs: Sue and Mike Bodson, Kathy C. Epstein, Vicki and Bill Fitzgerald, Rebecca A. Gillan, and Tracy Bishop Holton
Leader: Vicki and Bill Fitzgerald, and Nancy and Bob Selander
Master: Kathy C. Epstein
Champion: Jane Brooks, Ellen Flanagan and Joanne Flanagan, Rebecca Gillan, Mirella Hajjar, Tracy Bishop Holton, and Martha and Charles Zoubek
Bruce Presents: On the Threshold: A conversation on James Castle with John Beardsley and Brenda Brueggemann
Dates: May 17, 2023
Time: 6:00 PM–3:00 PM
Audience: Adult
Cost: Adults - $20, Students - $15 / Members - Free
Description: A conversation to discuss the exhibition, as well as the artist’s background and creative process.
Teen Workshop
Dates: May 26, 2023 and May 27, 2023
Time: 12:00 PM–3:00 PM
Audience: Teens
Cost: Free with admission
Description: Experiment, create, explore and so much more with the Junior Docent team. Free for teens!
Teen Afternoons: James Castle Inspired Art Workshop
Community Day: Summer Block Party
Dates: June 10, 2023 and June 11, 2023
Time: 10:00 AM–5:00 PM
Audience: All
Cost: Free
Teens @ Bruce
Date: June 24, 2023
Time: 5:00 PM–8:00 PM
Audience: Teens
Cost: Free
Description: Teens @ Bruce is a Museum-wide event that is exclusively for teens that includes hands on activities, performances, and more.
