Artist Rosemarie Castoro has died at 76 of unknown causes, according to Artforum, who received the news from Castoro’s gallery, Broadway 1602.
The Brooklyn-born artist lived and worked in New York until her death. She was a central figure in the New York Minimalist movement, despite the fact that there were few women included in the scene.
While obtaining her BFA from Pratt Institute in the early ’60s, she found great inspiration in modern dance, and collaborated with Yvonne Rainer, a driving force in experimental dance, theater, and film. From 1964–1970, Castoro was married to fellow minimalist artist, Carl Andre. Afterwards, Castoro delved into sculpture and installation, exploring materials such as concrete, wood, graphite, wire, and steel, and, in 1971, the artist received Guggenheim Fellowship.
“When I danced I leapt through the air and continued to remain up there… It was a way to leave this earth, to bring coherence to reality, to find a path again, to deeper the grooves and push the forest of the half blind,” Castoro told Lucy Lippard in a 1975 Artforum interview.
Rosemarie Castoro, Chrysler Figure (2004).
Rosemarie Castoro, Arm Swing Blues (1967).
Castoro taught and lectured at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Syracuse University, University of Colorado, Pratt Institute, and Hunter College. Her work is featured in collections at the Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Australia, and in key corporate collections as well.
“What does an artist want? Exposure. Something snaps our vision,” she told Artnews in 1971. “My energies in the world were for those not yet born…”