Antonio Castro L. (b. 1941, Zacatecas, Mexico) is a self‑taught painter and illustrator who has become a significant visual chronicler of the U.S.–Mexico borderlands. Living and working for most of his life in the El Paso–Ciudad Juárez region and, more recently, in Tempe, Arizona, Castro identifies with the fronterizo experience, rooted in the cultural, social, and linguistic crossings of the border. His figurative paintings and illustrations, developed over more than six decades, combine religious and mythological imagery, autobiographical themes, and personal symbols to explore memory, spirituality, family, and community.

Castro’s career encompasses both fine art and applied illustration. As an autodidact, he has built a substantial body of work that includes paintings such as Mi Búsqueda (My Search, 2009), Renacimiento (2014), and The New Colossus (2011), which meditate on ambition, time, rebirth, and migration through richly symbolic compositions. His paintings frequently depict the border as both a nurturing and challenging force—a mother that shapes individual and collective destinies. In parallel, he has illustrated numerous children’s books and regional publications, helping to shape a widely accessible visual narrative of borderland life.

A major museum exhibition, Antonio Castro: Visions of a Borderland at the El Paso Museum of Art (April 19–August 7, 2019), presented more than two dozen paintings and illustrations created over sixty years, along with process materials and examples of his commercial and editorial illustration work. This retrospective highlighted the depth of his engagement with religious iconography, myth, and autobiographical storytelling. More recently, his paintings were included in Ecos Del Sol: Portraits of Mexican American Heritage and Culture at the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine, Texas (November 15, 2024–February 15, 2025), situating his work within a broader narrative of Mexican American heritage and culture.

Castro’s illustration practice has been particularly influential in children’s literature. He has illustrated books such as Barry, the Bravest Saint Bernard (Random House), Pájaro Verde / The Green Bird, The Treasure on Gold Street, The Day It Snowed Tortillas, The Gum‑Chewing Rattler, Los remedios de mi tata / My Tata’s Remedies, Grandpa’s Hal‑La‑Loo‑Ya Hambone, and My Pet Rattlesnake, many in collaboration with storyteller Joe Hayes and published by El Paso–based Cinco Puntos Press. These projects have garnered prestigious recognitions, including the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List, a Pura Belpré Honor Book Award from the American Library Association, and an American Folklore Society Aesop Accolade. 

Family collaboration is central to Castro’s practice. He frequently works with his son, Antonio Castro H., a graphic designer, book designer, and professor of graphic design at the University of Texas at El Paso. Together, father and son have produced a successful series of children’s books for Cinco Puntos Press, with Antonio L. creating the illustrations and Antonio H. handling design and visual communication. Antonio H.’s award‑winning poster and book design work has been exhibited internationally, including at the International Poster Biennial in Bolivia, the Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition, and the International Poster Biennial in Mexico, adding a contemporary graphic dimension to the family’s contributions to Mexican American and borderlands visual culture.

Through this intergenerational partnership, the Castros bridge fine art, illustration, and design, extending the reach of their border narratives into museums, galleries, libraries, and classrooms. Taken together, Antonio Castro L.’s paintings, illustrations, and collaborations with his son form a powerful visual testimony to life on the border—deeply rooted in Mexican and Mexican American experience yet resonant well beyond the region.

Solo Exhibitions

2019 • Antonio Castro L.: Una Retrospectiva de Medio Siglo, Centro Cultural Paso del Norte,

Ciudad Juárez Chihuahua, México

• Antonio Castro: Visions of a Borderland, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso Texas, USA

2004 • Colección del Palacio de Gobierno de Chihuahua, Pintura/Mural titulada Batalla de

Tomochic. Palacio de Gobierno de la Cd. de Chihuahua, Chih, México

2003 • Retrospectiva de Antonio Castro L., Museo Historico “Ex-Aduana,” Cd. Juárez, Chih, México

2002 • Ocho Años de mi Tiempo, Evento Anual de Cultura. Canal 44, Cd. Juárez, Chih, México

2001 • Antonio Castro L./Retrospective, El Paso County Courthouse, El Paso TX, USA

• Antonio Castro L./Retrospective, La Galería de la Misión de Senecú, El Paso TX, USA

1999 • El Ser Humano Ciudadano del Universo, Galería Samuel Menache, Mexico D.F., México

1996 • Antonio Castro: A New History, Foyer Gallery, Texas Tech University, El Paso TX, USA

1995 • Imágenes y Palabras en Movimiento, Quinta Anita, Cd. Juárez, Chih, México

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024 • Icons & Symbols of the Borderland, The James Museum, St. Petersburg, FL, USA

2018 • Icons and Symbols of the Borderland, Brownsville Museum of Fine Art,

Brownsville, Texas, USA

2017 • Icons and Symbols of the Borderland, Centro de Artes, San Antonio, Texas, USA

2016 • Icons and Symbols of the Borderland, Mexicarte, Austin, Texas, USA

2015 • Icons and Symbols of the Borderland, The Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan

Desert Gardens, El Paso, Texas, USA

2013 • III Bienal Juárez – El Paso Biennial, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas, USA

2012 • Inquisitive Eyes: El Paso Art 1960 – 2012, El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas, USA

2008 • Preston Contemporary Art Center Inaugural Exhibition, Preston Contemporary

Art Center. Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA

2007 • Town and Center Mosaic, Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center. Pueblo,

Colorado, USA

2006 • Pintores Serranos y de Chihuahua, as part of the Festival Humánitas Fiestas de Mayo en

Oaxaca, 2o Festival Internacional Chihuahua Encuentro en la Cultura. Museo de los

Pintores Oaxaqueños. Cd. de Oaxaca, OAX., México

2005 • El Camino de la Plata, Traveling Exhibition, Pinturas y Esculturas de Zacatecas, Durango,

Chihuahua Nuevo México:

- Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Ángel Zárraga, Durango, Dgo. México

- Casa Redonda Museo Chihuahuense de Arte Contemporáneo. Cd. de Chihuahua, Chih. México

- The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, Nuevo Mexico, USA.

• Tercera Muestra de Pintura Chihuahuense, Casa Redonda Museo Chihuahuense de Arte

Contemporáneo. Cd. de Chihuahua, Chih, México

• Arturo García Bustos/Grabados y Dibujos Antonio Castro Mi Tiempo, Two Artists Exhibition

Casa Redonda Museo Chihuahuense de Arte Contemporáneo. Cd. de Chihuahua, Chih, México

2003 • Frontera Norte. Frontera Sur, Museo del Chamizal, Cd. Juárez, Chih, México

2001 • Heritage of Color/Herencia del Color, The Centennial Museum of The University of Texas at El Paso,

El Paso TX, USA

2000 • VIII Certamen de Pintura Trofeo Remo Brindisi, Ferrara, Italy

• Presencia de México en España, Sala Aceas de Barcelona, Castillo de Mora de Rubielos, Provincia de

Aragón, Spain

• Arte Fronterizo, Museo Chihuahuense de Arte Contemporáneo Casa Redonda, Cd. de Chihuahua,

Chih, México

• Una Realidad Aparte, Hotel Camino Real, El Paso TX, USA

1999 • Group Exhibition at Adair Margo Gallery, El Paso TX, USA

1998 • Primera Muestra de la Plástica Chihuahuense, Museo José Luis Cuévas, Mexico D.F. México

1997 • Premio Siqueiros–Pollock, Museo del INBA, Cd. Juárez, Chih, México

1996 • Identidades Fronterizas, Museo Histórico de Cd. Juárez, Cd. Juárez, Chih, México

Awards

2018 • Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List for for the illustrations done for the book Grandpa’s

Hal-La-Loo-Ya Hambone by Joe Hayes, published by Cinco Puntos Press

2016 • Pura Belpre Honor Book Award granted by the American Library Association for the illustrations

done for the book Los remedios de mi tata/My Tata’s Remedies, by Roni Capin Rivera Ashford,

published by Cinco Puntos Press

2003 • ASEOP Accolade American Folklore Society for the illustrations done for the book Pájaro Verde/The

Green Bird by Joe Hayes, published by Cinco Puntos Press

2000 • Honorable Mention, VII Salo Internacional D’Arts Plastiques, Acea, Barcelona, Spain

1997 • Honorable Mention, Premio Siqueiros–Pollock. Cd. Juárez, Chih. Mex.

1979 • Seklemian Award New York, New York, NY, USA