In 1963-4 he studied drawing at the
Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas and painting and sculpture at the
Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, and was apprenticed to his stepfather sculptor
Federico Canessi in the 1960s and 1970s. Castellanos and Canessi's projects included the monument at
Netzahualcoyotl Dam in Malpaso,
Chiapas, the
Mahatma Gandhi Monument in
Chapultepec, Mexico City, the
Salvador Allende monument in
Ciudad Sahagún,
Hidalgo (1973), and the 7-metre high Father Kino monument (1974) and the General
Ignacio Zaragoza equestrian monument (1976) in
Tijuana. In May 1977, Antonio Castellanos,
Ricardo Cruz and
Fundatier Galindo contributed the geometrical cubic forms in the
St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Castellanos is noted for his large sculpture of
Antonio de Montesinos delivering his sermon facing the Caribbean sea at the seafront of
Santo Domingo in the
Dominican Republic. The stone and bronze statue is 15 meters tall and was donated to the Dominican people by the Mexican government and inaugurated in 1982 by the presidents of Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Castellanos is also noted for his "monumental head" of
Diego Rivera at the
Dolores Olmedo Museum in Mexico City In 1967 Castellanos was awarded an Award of Honor for his sculpture "Germinación" at the
Biennial Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City. Antonio Espinoza stated that he "stands out for his interpretations of femininity and maternity". ==References==