Douglas de Castro
Country: Brazil
Douglas de Castro is a Brazilian contemporary artist and illustrator living and working in Goiânia. De Castro is also the driving force behind the internationally acclaimed arts and design collective Bicicleta Sem Freio, founded in 2005 alongside Renato Reno. The duo is appreciated for their instantly recognisable illustrations and large-scale murals around the world. While they’ve been working collaboratively for many years, occasionally, they branch out onto their individual practices.
De Castro’s independent body of work goes across the board, ranging from illustrations, paintings, murals and sculptures. Enigmatic and mysterious, his style can be described as neo-tropicália, melding together popular and avant garde genres, as well as Brazilian and foreign influences.
Initially, trained in fine arts and design at the Faculty of Visual Arts of Goiás, and fueled by his love of bold lines, acid bright colors and rock’n’roll, de Castro spurred an abiding fascination for creating gig posters and illustrations alluding to a very personal melting pot of references and inspirations such the 1960s era Psychedelic Art, comic books, traditional tattoo designs, the 80’s pop culture and botanical art.
Over the years, the artists’ compositions and the mediums explored have become more complex in both style and subject matter. He currently portrays the tension between real life and an illusory world with humans, animals and ambiguous anthropomorphic creatures merging into tropical and extraordinary scenarios to tackle themes linked to post-modern existentialism and global social issues.
Living and working in the mystical city of Goiânia, the second largest city in the central-west region of Brazil, also speaks a lot about his work today. There he has been able to absorb much of the ancestry, the culture, and the land, having the largest green area per inhabitant in Brazil, and the second-most in the world.
Douglas de Castro is an expert in painting large scale murals rich in detail and references. Those impressive works can be found in major cities across the globe like London, Berlin, Hong Kong, Miami, Las Vegas, Montreal, Sao Paulo or Los Angeles, Lisbon, Jerusalem, and many more.
De Castro’s artwork also extends to fashion, consumer product commissions, prints, posters and collaboration with forward-thinking brands such as Nike, Comme Des Garçons, NBA, UFC or Vans as well as prestigious artists and bands such as Beck, Kings of Leon, and The Killers who collaborated with de Castro and brought their big ideas to life through striking visuals that stand out through the noise.
Embedded in the contemporary art world, de Castro regularly takes his finely crafted artworks to galleries and institutions; Urban Nation Museum in Berlin, Antler Gallery in Portland, Fifty24SF in San Francisco, Hoxton gallery London, and GGA Gallery in Miami.
Douglas De Castro’s travels the world alongside Bicicleta Studio and independently, creating a widening portfolio of public art, including pieces in London, Berlin, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, Honolulu, Mexico, Lisbon and Puerto Rico.
Website: www.bicicletasemfreio.com
Instagram: @dojla
