Joe Coleman (painter)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Joe Coleman (born November 22 1955) is an American illustrator and painter.[1] [May 2007]
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Biography
He was born Joseph Coleman, Jr. in Norwalk, Connecticut to a World War II-veteran father and the daughter of a professional prizefighter. He was raised Roman Catholic.
Work
Coleman's subjects are pop icons of a sort who are often transgressive, criminal, and "outside" the mainstream radar. In some ways, much of his style makes reference to the Spanish-Mexican religious tradition that Frida Kahlo also drew upon; Coleman's work is sometimes reminiscent of Basil Wolverton's.
Pranks
His pranks — including appearing to blow himself up and medieval-style geek antics — have been documented in the Pranks! volume of Re/Search Books, along with the works of some of his contemporaries such as Boyd Rice.Image:JoeColemanMouseGeek.jpg
Interests
Coleman is an avid enthusiast for weird, dark American culture and a serious collector of sideshow oddities. He's a patron of Johnny Fox's Freakatorium in New York City (where he lives) and was a supporter and good friend of the late rockabilly eccentric Hasil Adkins. He also acted in "Black Hearts Bleed Red", a 1992 film adaptation of Flannery O'Connor's short story A Good Man Is Hard To Find, made by New York independent film director Jeri Cain Rossi.
Subjects Coleman has portrayed
- Grover Bergdoll
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Boxcar Bertha
- Jack Black
- Albert Fish
- Harry Houdini
- Paul John Knowles
- Charles Manson
- David Owsley
- Hasil Adkins
- Carl Panzram
- Quantrill's Raiders
- Hank Williams
- Mary Bell
- Kip Kinkel
- Timothy McVeigh
- Edward Teller
- Indian Larry
- Celine
Book Covers
Coleman's work has been featured on the covers of many books including:
- Apocalypse Culture
- You Can't Win
- The Mystery of Wolverine Woo-Bait
- Apocalypse Culture II
- Under the Empire of the Birds
References
- Cosmic Retribution: The Infernal Art of Joe Coleman by Joe Coleman (Fantagraphics, 1992, paperback, ISBN 0-922915-06-7; Feral House, 1993, hardcover, ISBN 0-922915-13-X).
- The Man of Sorrows by Joe Coleman (Gates of Heck, 1993, hardcover, ISBN 0-9638129-0-4; republished in 1998).
- Original Sin: The Visionary Art of Joe Coleman by Joe Coleman, John Yau, Jim Jarmusch, Harold Schechter, and Katharine Gates (Heck Editions, 1997, paperback, ISBN 0-9638129-6-3).
- R.I.P., Rest in Pieces: A Portrait of Joe Coleman (1997, directed by Robert-Adrian Pejo, starring Joe Coleman and Jim Jarmusch, DVD).
- The Book of Joe by Joe Coleman, Anthony Haden-Guest, Katharine Gates, Asia Argento, Rebecca Lieb, and Jack Sargeant (Last Gasp/La Luiz de Jesus Press, 2003, hardcover, ISBN 0-86719-578-9).
- Muzzlers, Guzzlers, and Good Yeggs (Fantagraphics Books, 2005, hardcover, ISBN 1-56097-628-4).
