Jota Castro As an ex-diplomat and international lawyer, Castro uses his extensive knowledge on European law to inform his artistic statements and artworks. Recently Castro has been focusing on the construction of Europe. His work is confronting and he is known for his direct and subversive critical commentary. For this exhibition Castro produced a new piece entitled Breaking Icons in which photographic portraits of personalities who have strongly influenced the society are pinned to a wall and then smashed.

Work in the exhibition

Breaking Icons Installation, 2004 Aluminium frames, photos, glass Scalable Courtesy: Galleria Massimo Minini, Brescia

Jota Castro (1963) was born in Lima, Peru and has lived in Latin America, Haiti, USA, Northern Ireland, Spain, France and Belgium. Castro came to France after being awarded the Young Peruvian Poet Prize for his written work. He received his masters degree in political sciences and is a former student of the College of Europe in Bruges. He is currently preparing a PhD on Art and Politics and has worked for the EEC and the UN. His most recent exhibitions are Hardcore at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2003), the FIAC, Galerie Kamel Mennour (2003), Zone of Urgency, 5Oth Venice Biennale (2003), LoveHotel, Galerie Maisonneuve in Paris (2003), Lines and Mobility, Kunstverein in Nuremberg, Germany (2002), Play with Gary and Reality (performance), Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels (2001), Transit, Addict Creative Lab in Brussels (2001). His most recent solo exhibition was at Galeria Massimo Minnini in Brescia (2003).