Mighty Joe Castro is an accomplished American collage artist, musician (Mighty Joe Castro and the Gravamen) and designer. His artwork has been exhibited in galleries and art spaces across North America and Europe. Critics have described his work as “a controlled explosion, aggressive and pensive (Kolaj Magazine)” and “bold and diverse… one of those collage artists whose works you recognize immediately… (Toombes.com).” He is a signature member of the National Collage Society.
Born in New York, then moving to Delaware as an adolescent, Castro spent his twenties playing guitar in several bands, including Nero (OPF), Swingline and the critically acclaimed The Situation. Formed in 2001 with singer-songwriter Christopher Tucker, The Situation signed with Elephant Stone records in 2004, releasing The Reece Nasty EP and their self-titled full-length in 2006. Both releases received praise from Pitchfork, The Big Takeover,Skyscraper and Magnet. The band toured the U.S. and opened for artists such as The Strokes, The Libertines, Nada Surf, Brian Jonestown Massacre and Arthur Lee & Love. Their music was featured on MTV and Fuel TV. The group disbanded in 2006. Tucker passed away in 2008.
Castro took a strong interest in the visual identity of the band, designing most of their flyers, album covers, and t-shirts—work that began attracting as much attention as his guitar playing. In 2006, he began exhibiting his paintings and collages in galleries. In 2010, he was one of six artists selected (from over 450 applicants) by Vans and Color Magazine to customize a pair of canvas sneakers, which were shown in exhibitions in Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto.
His collage work has been featured in The Age of Collage: Contemporary Collage in Modern Art (Gestalten), Arkitip (0062), The Baffler (issues 35 & 45), Esquire, GQ Style, Glamour, Kolaj Magazine, The Artist Catalogue (cover artist – Fall 2013) and on a board series for Element skateboards. In 2018, he published Everything We Love is Slowly Becoming Fiction, a 10 year retrospective book of his collage art and interviews.
His current musical project, Mighty Joe Castro and the Gravamen have been described as sounding like “Buddy Holly if he’d had access to a stack of effects pedals and some Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds records.” Their debut album, Come On Angels! was met with critical acclaim, following the 2018 Wake Up, You’re Rockin’ Their latest album, Between the Lightning and the Thunder was released June 6, 2025. Known for their energetic live shows, the band has performed with a diverse range of artists including The Squirrel Nut Zippers, The Heavy Heavy, Skinny Lister, Wayne Hancock, and Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys.
“Philly-based singer-songwriter Mighty Joe Castro would fit right in at the Twin Peaks roadhouse. His retro-rock stylings channel the uneasy underbelly of 1950s American life; think equal parts film noir and Chris Isaak…” – WXPN’s The Key
When not creating new art or writing music, Castro runs his own graphic design business. His design work has earned multiple awards and has been featured in Graphic Design USA. He has also directed music videos for Bedolina, The Sky Drops, Curly Castro, and Zilla Rocca.