ABOUT
Joe DeVito is an award-winning artist, sculptor, and storyteller whose work has brought some of the world’s most iconic characters to life. Born in New York City, he grew up in Berkey Heights New Jersey, and graduated with honors from Parsons School of Design.
He is the founder of DeVito ArtWorks, LLC, an artist-driven trans-media studio dedicated to creating and developing imaginative properties across publishing, film, gaming, and fine art. Among its flagship creations are King Kong of Skull Island, War Eagles, and The Primordials. DeVito ArtWorks is exclusively represented by World Builder Entertainment.
As both artist and co-author (with Brad Strickland), Joe has produced and illustrated a series of acclaimed books expanding the King Kong mythology: KONG: King of Skull Island (2004), Merian C. Cooper’s King Kong (2005), the limited edition King Kong of Skull Island (2017) and the definitive two-volume epic King Kong of Skull Island – Part One: Exodus and Part Two: The Wall (2019/2025) under the World Builder Publishing imprint. These works chronicle the origins of the Kongs, the human civilization of Skull Island, and serve as the definitive prequel/sequel story of the classic Kong mythology.
Joe’s creations continue to expand the King Kong of Skull Island universe across media, including a live-action TV series in development with Disney+, a Skull Island metaverse with The Sandbox, VR platforms with Raw Thrills, and multiple comic book series and games with Dynamite Entertainment and BOOM! Studios, including crossovers such as Kong on the Planet of the Apes.
Over the decades, DeVito has painted and sculpted many of pop culture’s most legendary figures—Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Tarzan, The Shadow, Doc Savage, and even MAD Magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman. His art has graced hundreds of book and magazine covers, collectible posters, trading cards, and concept designs for film and television.
His sculptural works include the official 100th Anniversary Tarzan of the Apes statue for the Edgar Rice Burroughs Estate, The Cooper Kong for the Merian C. Cooper Estate, statues of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman for DC Comics and Chronicle Books’ Masterpiece Editions, and other commissions for collectors worldwide.
Rooted deeply in the fine arts, DeVito has also created monumental religious sculptures and restorations, including two twice life size statues of the Madonna and Child—one at the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Portugal and another at the World Apostolate of Fatima Shrine in New Jersey - as well as the restoration of the historic Odessa Madonna, now housed in Kazan, Russia.
In addition to his visual work, Joe has contributed essays to volumes such as Kong Unbound: The Cultural Impact, Pop Mythos, and Scientific Plausibility of a Cinematic Legend and Pixel or Paint: The Digital Divide in Illustration Art. He has lectured and taught in the graduate illustration program at the Fashion Institute of Technology and as an adjunct professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
Currently, DeVito is developing his newest epic project, The Primordials, a vast mythology told through words and images. His paintings and sculptures have won numerous awards and are exhibited in museums, galleries, and private collections around the world.
