By Alana Coates
Art Magazine, 2013
Lady Base Gallery is the newest exhibition space in San Antonio’s South Flores Arts District. It is located within the Gallista Gallery at 1913 S. Flores Street. Sarah Castillo, artist, archivist, and newest occupant of the establishment, introduces Lady Base Gallery as a space specifically for women and the LBGT artistic community.
Castillo sets the tone of Lady Base Gallery as a venue for experimentation, professional growth, and a safe haven of artistic practice for the often-overlooked sector of artists that she aims to promote. Castillo’s goal is not to contemplate why male artists seemly always take the forefront; rather she aims to provide an outlet for women and LBGT artists to promote and further expand the discourse. As proprietor, she puts forth that Lady Base Gallery will reject the rules of the conventional gallery.
Castillo’s own artwork consciously runs contradictory to the confines of traditional commercial galleries and this was, in part, the impetus of its design. Creatively she spans the mediums of textiles, photography, painting, drawing, and sculpture; however, her projects that incorporate what traditionally have been considered feminine craft materials tend to best exemplify the artist’s inclination to bend the conventions of the white-cube.
Alana J. Coates 