About the artist:

James Romberger (born 1958) is an American fine artist and cartoonist known for his depictions of New York City's Lower East Side. Romberger's pastel drawings of the ravaged landscape of the Lower East Side and its citizens are in many public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museums in New York City. His solo and collaborative exhibitions have appeared at Ground Zero Gallery NY, the Grace Borgenicht Gallery, Gracie Mansion, The Proposition and the New Museum of Contemporary Art. James Romberger's The Saint. Pastel on paper, 1992 Romberger has long contributed work in the comics medium to alternative publications such as World War 3 Illustrated. Ground Zero, his science-fiction strip collaboration with his wife, filmmaker Marguerite Van Cook, was serialized through the 1980s and 1990s in various downtown literary magazines. His efforts for commercial comics publishers include work for Marvel Comics’s Epic Illustrated, Image Comics' NYC Mech, Paradox Press' Big Book series and Papercutz' Tales from the Crypt. DC/Vertigo published Romberger's work on The Bronx Kill with writer Peter Milligan, the Renegade storyline in Jamie Delano's 2020 Visions; the critically acclaimed Seven Miles A Second, Romberger and Van Cook's graphic novel done in collaboration with artist, writer, and AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz. Romberger is also a critic and writer for Publisher's Weekly and the comics blog the Hooded Utilitarian. Marguerite Van Cook, British Marguerite Van Cook (née Martin) is an artist, writer, musician/singer and filmmaker. She was born in England and now resides in New York in the Lower East Side/East Village. She attended Portsmouth College of Art and Design, Northumbria University Graphic and Fine Arts programs, BMCC, and Columbia University for English (B.A.) and Modern European Studies (M.A.). She currently attends the CUNY Graduate Center in the French Ph.D. program. Van Cook was the lead singer for The Innocents, a UK punk band, who toured as opening act for The Clash and The Slits on the “Sort it Out Tour.” After this group disbanded, she joined “Steppin' Razor,” an all female reggae band, as the bass player. They opened for Yellow Man at Harlem World. She continues to perform at downtown New York venues. Van Cook opened and ran Ground Zero Gallery NY with her partner James Romberger in the East Village Art scene, from 1983-1986.Among the gallery presentations was the David Wojnarowicz show Mexican Diaries, which informed the video "A Fire in My Belly," which sparked a controversy when it was removed from the exhibition Hide/Seek from the National Portrait Galleryin 2011. Under the banner of "Ground Zero", the couple curated and produced shows at Danceteria, Max Fish and other downtown clubs. In 1991, She became the director of Elston Fine Arts. In 2003, together with Romberger she directed the Fine Art elements of the Howl! Festival, an annual festival of the East Village, which included public out door sculpture exhibits, gallery shows. In 2006, she became the director and producer of the festival. Van Cook has presented solo and group shows and her work is in many major public collections. Van Cook has presented works as a performance artist. She was part of a collaborative group curated by Carlo McCormick, which included, James Romberger, David West, Marilyn Minter, David Wojnarowicz, Christof Kolhofer, Keiko Bonk and Luis Frangella. Together they painted installations in New York and in Virginia. Of her comics work, Van Cook is best known for her color work on the graphic novel Seven Miles a Second, with Romberger and David Wojnarowicz. The original artwork was shown at the New Museum and the comic was included in the Museum of Modern Art "Open Ends, Millennium Show". She has worked for DC Comics as a writer and colorist. She has collaborated on a comic Ground Zero with James Romberger, which was serialized through the 1980s and 1990s in various downtown literary magazines.