Isabel Castro

Isabel Castro, also known as Isabel Castro-Melendez, (born 1954) is a Mexican American artist born in Mexico City. She was raised and still resides in Los Angeles, California. Castro gained her education at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles (USC) in 2015 with a master's degree in arts journalism.

Another artwork by Castro is "X Rated Bondage" (1980). The artwork includes six gelatin silver prints. The images depicted are rephotographed images from pornography magazines that illustrate the sexual exploitation of Mexican America women. This exploitation relates to Mexican American women choosing sex work due to systematic racism limiting their career opportunities.

Career

Curator Isabel Castro's curatorial career began in the late 1990s. She curated a variety of fine art Chicano and music/sound of Latino Art. Around the same time, she assisted with the Arhoolie Foundation’s Strachwitz Frontera Collection project at the Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC) at UCLA.

Educator Isabel Castro has served as an executive board member and founder of the Plaza de la Raza Cultural Center for the Arts and Education.