Tag Archives: New York

Genetic Portraits: Products of Immortality.

This show opened the night before the World Trade attack of 911. Consequently, in wake of the tragedy it was received in unexpected ways. People came into the gallery which was just above Houston Street, just slightly outside the worst hit zone, to commiserate and to cry.  Ironic since the show was about preserving memory and the problems of storing ones genetic data for sale.

 Each image was part of a grouping that offered not only the portrait but the subjects molecular structure. It also included a DNA analysis for future recreation. This was placed into clay pots.

 I chose people from amongst my friends and peers for my subjects .

 I  wanted to show elements of their vocations, visual clues to assist in their recreation down the road. Hence my ballerina is depicted in a romantic pose.


The Herald was fun to paint because it simply represents a young man in his prime and I enjoyed the historicity of his pose which contrasts the post modern ubiquity of blue jeans with the classic quality of his pose.

 The Herald may be viewed at a larger scale

An Interview with me and James Romberger by Grace Bello at Publishers Weekly about upcoming rerelease of 7 Miles A Second

Romberger & Van Cook by Romberger Art / Color Van CookThis article came out today in Publishers Weekly.  It will appear in both the hard copy and the online copy.
It discusses the process and publication of the re-release of Seven Miles a Second, a collaborative effort to realize David Wojnarowicz’ graphic memoir. As the article points out, much time has passed since we began this work. It is great to see “Seven Miles a Second” come out in the way that it was intended. For that we thank the great team at Fantagraphics who let us have it our way.

 Remembering David : A Graphic Tribute: James Romberger and Marguerite Van Cook