Scholar｜Daniel Castro: Humor with Weight

One of Daniel Castro’s memorable works features heavy-looking concrete barriers made from lightweight insulation foam, a cheap material he found during the pandemic when traditional supplies were out of reach. Hooded figures and scattered clothing (like a small hunting mask given to him by his father, a vintage from the 1970s) occupy the white cube, spaces usually reserved for “high art.” Gallery guards marvel at Daniel lifting foam barricades effortlessly, while viewers feel the serious weight of identity behind the imagery. It’s humor with a bite, a quiet but powerful call from the margins to the center.

Daniel Castro, Columbia MFA Thesis Exhibition. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Born and raised in the Bronx by Puerto Rican parents, Daniel’s background is inseparable from his work. He grew up without museums or art mentors. Painting was a private joy, a practice done quietly. When he entered college, mostly surrounded by white peers making art about their own experiences, Daniel found his subject by turning inward, looking closely at the everyday signs and symbols of his neighborhood. His art tells the stories of a world often overlooked.

David Hammons and Robert Colescott haunt Daniel’s visual language. Hammons’ use of mundane objects to speak to Black identity resonates deeply. Daniel’s hoodies and worn pants transform into charged cultural signs. Colescott’s biting satire of race and history informs Daniel’s blend of humor and critique. “I’m drawn to how these artists use humor to talk about serious issues,” Daniel reflects, “It’s a way to engage people without shutting them out.”

Detail from Daniel Castro’s Try Me, 2025. Mirror, concrete, acrylic, spray foam, and plastic on insulation foam. One of several sculptural elements paying tribute to David Hammons’ In the Hood, transforming humble materials into charged symbols of identity and visibility.

While earning his MFA at Columbia, Daniel expanded into installation and sculpture, exploring space beyond the canvas. Floors, walls, even sound became part of his storytelling. This new scale allowed him to build immersive environments that reflect the tensions and memories of urban life. For Daniel, art is a way to claim visibility. He speaks openly about feeling unseen or misunderstood in mainstream art spaces. His foam sculptures and layered paintings don’t just depict the city, they live it. They carve out space for stories too often erased, balancing strength and fragility, visibility and invisibility.

Daniel emerges from a Bronx lineage charged with raw urgency: Basquiat’s restless graffiti-poetry, Renee Cox’s unapologetic reclaiming of Black bodies, Swoon’s fragile street narratives. In this charged continuum, Daniel steps forward not as an echo but a fracture, carving out new spatial and material vocabularies. In a time when much art drifts from reality, Daniel’s work roots itself in the everyday. The materials he chooses (discarded, inexpensive foam and clothing) carry histories and meanings as loudly as his images do. Through them, he rebuilds urban memory, giving weight to what might otherwise slip away.

Wacked Out Murals, 2024. Acrylic and spray paint on plywood. 96’’ x 96’’. Photo courtesy of the artist.

This focus on material and cultural truth also reflects the spirit of Liu Shiming, who celebrated the dignity found in ordinary gestures and the textures of daily life. Daniel Castro, a Columbia MFA candidate and the 2025 Liu Shiming Scholarship recipient, continues that legacy with his own powerful voice.

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Interviewed by: Chirui Cheng

Written by: Chirui Cheng