Untitled (Fantasy landscape with car, structures)

James Castle

not dated

Blue, green, and dark gray-purple washes of unknown origin and soot on thin gray found cardboard (unknown source)

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Fantasy scenes appear regularly among Castle’s drawings. Often produced as color pigment drawings, these enigmatic depictions feature both familiar and invented objects. In this curious example, Castle placed what appears to be a car or similar vehicle at the center of an uninhabited landscape. Several ambiguous structures appear in the foreground and background, their conceptual purpose uncertain. Indeed, attempting to assign specific meanings to this drawing is at best guesswork, as Castle never explained his work, always allowing it to speak for itself. In the lower margin of the drawing, Castle added a short horizontal line, his