Daniel Castro
Bio: Daniel Castro (b. Bronx, NY) is a mixed-media artist who creates paintings, sculptures, and immersive installations informed by his New York City upbringing. Daniel graduated with a BFA from SUNY Purchase in 2020, and is currently an MFA candidate at Columbia University in the City of New York. Daniel is the recipient of the Aaron and Betty Lee Stern K Fellowship, Dong Kingman Fellowship, Glasier Fellowship, and Provost Fund Scholarship– Visual Arts. Notable exhibitions include Around the Way at LatchKey Gallery, New York, NY (2023); (Sur)face at Chilli Art Projects, London, ENG (2023); and Currents at SK Gallery, New York, NY (2024).
danielcastroartist.com
instagram @dcastro.art
Artist Statement: Daniel Castro is a multi-media artist, interested in exploring themes of presence and absence within the urban landscape. By way of combining painting and sculpture, Daniel’s work breaks out of the traditional painting format, creating assemblages that propose painting as object. Born and raised in the Bronx in a traditional Puerto Rican household, Daniel integrates the cultural nuances and histories from his environment within his work. Growing up in a community where he saw toughness was a necessity, Daniel investigates the performative nature of strength through material play. Utilizing a variety of materials, including found and discarded objects, insulation foam, concrete, and other “non-art” materials, Daniel’s multimedia practice weaves coded statements on contemporary social systems that are embedded in the materials he uses. His work with clothing—hoodies, sagging jeans, and sneakers—reframes these garments as symbols of identity and systemic scrutiny. The hoodie, a particularly recurring motif in Daniel’s work, symbolizes both protection and perceived threat, identity and erasure. This thesis project examines how marginalized bodies navigate visibility and disappearance in urban spaces—exploring themes of hyper-masculinity, racial identity, and materiality through painting, sculpture and installation.
Daniel Castro
Untitled, 2024
Oil, acrylic, molding paste, spray foam on insulation board
85" x 36" x 3.5"
Courtesy of the artist
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Seek, 2024
Oil, acrylic, molding paste on canvas, mixed media
77" x 36" x 16.5"
Courtesy of the artist