Joe Coleman (painter)

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Joe Coleman

Joe Coleman (born November 22, 1955) is an American illustrator and painter.

Contents

[edit] 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.

[edit] Work

Cover of Coleman's Cosmic Retribution

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 upon which Frida Kahlo also drew. Coleman's work is sometimes reminiscent of Basil Wolverton's work.

In 2007 he had an exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo, curated by Steven Holmes.

[edit] Subjects portrayed

[edit] Book Covers

Coleman's work has been featured on the covers of many books including:

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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, and also in Scarlet Diva, Asia Argento's 2003 film debut as director.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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