Saturday, August 23, 2008

CASTILLO CALABOZO STUDIOS in Panama


First!....
THANK YOU! Corinna, Don, Melinda, Matt, Daniel, Dan, Dain, Wyckan (like I can spell it), Meredith, Chris, Jane, Josh, Canada, Panama and all you other great peeps who have made this happen.......
YOU F#$KIN' ROCK!

Castillo Calabozo Studios (that's "Castle Dungeon Studios" in English) operated by Daniel Poisson and Corinna Haight, with overwhelming support by the San Fransisco Crew, Oregon Crew and Luna's Castle, is proud to announce we are underway in artistic production.

Following Captain Morgan's plundering of the Panama Vieja (that's the original city) in 1671, stones from the ruins were used to construct the massive walls of Casco Viejo (that's the real city but not the ultra modern skyscraper city) in 1673. Luna's Castle, built in 1905, rests upon this original city wall. Castillo Calabozo Studio is the dungeon, ajoining our beautiful central courtyard directly alongside this original wall.

Panama is a place of greatly contrasted cultures and delicately intertwined lifestyles. One side of a street can be gorgeous and modern and the other side filthy and rundown. Across the street from us is an ultra modern, extremely wealthy mansion and next door to them is a multi family, ramshackled structure literally crumbling to pieces. The fruit and vegetables here are the best I've ever eaten in all my travels (sorry Genetic Modification) and yet the street vendors can literally be stenching of stomach virus.

The Panamanian people are honest, hardworking and good humoured. The more I get to know the ones I interact with daily, the more I realize I'll have to call everyone a friend.

The work I have produced so far is diverse and intentionally so. This is life. This is Panama. No 2 days are the same. I realize that although there has been such a great change in my lifestyle and surroundings, my work tends to remain similar to the many styles I have developed over the last 30 years. I feel greatly inspired to produce and take great pride in not falling into, putting myself into, being put into, or ending up in one style of classifiable work. Genre is an old over used word.


Here are the first 4 pieces done in the first 2 weeks of arrival in Panama. DOCTOR GREYSCALE HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!!!!!!!! BRILLIANCE IS THE NEW DULL!


SOLD "PANAMA SELF" - 48"w X 72"t - acrylic, ink. marker on wood panel
*although this did not start out as a self portrait, it appears as thought it obviously is one, complete with "poisson" foot, Panama Canal, flowing rain, brilliant sunshine, and loco vibes!



SOLD "PURE LOVE" - 48"w X 72"t - acrylic, ink on wood panel
*Again I was just painting away and it appears this is actually Corinna when I really had no idea who she was when I started. It's amazing actually.....nearly looks photo realistic!


SOLD "PANAMA POLICIA" - 48"w X72"t - spray paint on wood panel
*I believe there to be a lot of corruption here. You can feel it. Some authority smile and some just don't risk it I think. The police do not like being photographed, but their presence is everywhere. I really wanted to do a street graph stencil piece of them however. I felt the best way to get an honest picture to work from was to ask them if I could take their picture rather than just sneaking one when they weren't looking. I thought if I went to a super seedy part of town where I would surely get mugged and beaten, hung around for a few minutes near the policia and taking pictures of the buildings, then asked them if I could take their picture, it would sure as shit shock them into a "yes" answer. This is the result...I wanted one of them playing with their handguns, but they refused to unholster them for me. This casual look is perfect and more fitting anyways.


SOLD "THE NEW PLAID" - 96"w X 48"t - acrylic, marker on wood panel
*Pure release and nothing more! All the cool kats will be wear knickers with patterns like this one day!

PEACE!

Unclassifiably Yours,
Daniel Poisson
CODE OF CREATION-owner
Castillo Calabozo Studios-producer
Follow Your Passion!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, Daniel and Corinna!
This is your Twizzler friend from the plane ride to Panama...Amanda! I LOVE the pieces you have created so far and the blog. I will check back to see how Panama is treating you. As you stated, the people are amazing, filled with life, love, laughter and all that is good in the world. Their smiles amped me up daily. I have many photos of my trip and the most inspiring thing in nature I witnessed was a sloth with its baby. I also found out that the sloth hangs out in the Sacropia (sp?) tree and that the people in Panama claim that the dried Sacropia leaf has the same effects as m.j., so I guess that explains their laid back, slow moving way of life. I wondered what would happen if their diet was changed.
Anyway, I hope that your experience is amazing and it was lovely meeting the two of you!
I, too, appreciate Michael Franti...he speaks the truth. Cheers!

Anonymous said...

hey guys the work looks awsome. really diggin it. keep it up.

renee and coba