JJ CROMER
JJ Cromer is a self-taught American artist who lives with his family on a small farm in central Appalachia. While not formally trained in art, he did pursue higher education, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in history followed by two master’s degrees (writing and library science). He went on to work as a librarian for several years until he rediscovered his passion for art, an interest set aside in youth. He began to draw incessantly. Not surprisingly, his innate curiosity led him through obsessive explorations of various media and different techniques until he developed his personal artistic style, one that is as unique and intricate as it is beautiful and strange.
Since his first exhibitions in 1999, Cromer has gained widespread recognition. In addition to many private collections, his works are included in the permanent collections of the American Visionary Art Museum, the Intuit Center of Outsider Art, the High Museum of Art, the American Folk Art Museum, and the Taubman Museum of Art. He has several pieces in the permanent exhibit at the American Visionary Art Museum. He is represented by American Primitive Gallery/Nexus Singularity.
25% of proceeds from the sale of JJ Cromer's artworks will support the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, earmarked for environmental justice.
JJ Cromer
The Death of Benign Authority, 2021
mixed media on paper
11 x 8 1/2 in
27.9 x 21.6 cm
JJ Cromer
Appalachian Clammers, 2020
mixed media on paper
6 x 8 in
15.2 x 20.3 cm
JJ Cromer
The Little Indicator Wants to Be Lost in Your Eyes, 2021
mixed media on paper
11 x 8 1/2 in
27.9 x 21.6 cm
JJ Cromer
That Note You Play All the Time Is a Good One, 2020
mixed media on paper
10 x 8 in
25.4 x 20.3 cm
JJ Cromer
Tied to Strings Running from Fists, 2021
mixed media on paper
11 x 8 1/2 in
27.9 x 21.6 cm
JJ Cromer
Perhaps in Your Town (A Son with Orbiting Ears, and the Daughters of the Patriot Gaze), 2021
mixed media on paper
11 x 8 1/2 in
27.9 x 21.6 cm
JJ Cromer
Kin Says, “It’ll Never Happen to Me and I Don’t Care if It Happens to You”, 2021
mixed media on paper
11 x 8 1/2 in
27.9 x 21.6 cm
JJ Cromer
Caster, 2020
mixed media on paper
10 x 8 in
25.4 x 20.3 cm
JJ Cromer
The Sentence They Love Broken up Into Kindling, 2020
mixed media on paper
11 x 8 1/2 in
27.9 x 21.6 cm
JJ Cromer
Essential Components, 2021
mixed media on paper
11 x 8 1/2 in
27.9 x 21.6 cm
JJ Cromer
They Make a Home in That Maw, 2020
mixed media on paper
10 x 8 in
25.4 x 20.3 cm
SELECETED EXHIBITIONS
I WALK THRU WALLS
MARCH 8 - APRIL 18, 2022
OPEN CALL 2023
JULY 27 - SEPTEMBER 6, 2023
SLIGHT OF HAND 2022
Small Works by Contemporary Artists
Annual Juried Exhibition and Fundraiser
NOVEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 31, 2022
JJ Cromer
born 1967, West Virginia
lives and works in Appalacia
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JJ Cromer and his family live on a small farm in central Appalachia, where they've tended bees, geese, chickens, and mushrooms. His work has been featured in Raw Vision Magazine, and is in numerous private and public collections, including the American Visionary Art Museum, the Intuit Center of Outsider Art, the High Museum of Art, the American Folk Art Museum, and the Taubman Museum of Art. He has several pieces in the permanent exhibit at the American Visionary Art Museum. He is represented by American Primitive Gallery/Nexus Singularity.
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EDUCATION
1996 M.L.I.S, Library and Information Science, University of Southern Mississippi
1994 M.A. English, Western Kentucky University
1990 B. A. History, University of Wyoming
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Appalachian Dream Mechanics: Twenty Years of Art by JJ Cromer, Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
2010 JJ Cromer: A Study of Passing Events, The Athenaeum, Alexandria, VA
2009 Fill: A Failure of Imagination: New Work by JJ Cromer,
2009 The Booth Center Gallery, Appalachian School of Law, Grundy, VA
2008 Our Stampedes are Compatible: A Selection of Works by JJ Cromer, Staniar Gallery, Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA
2006 District Fine Arts, Washington, D.C.
2006 Nelson Fine Arts, Lexington, VA
2003 Grey Carter-Objects of Art, McLean, VA
2001 Appalshop Art Center, Whitesburg, KY
2001 Southwest Virginia Community College, Richlands, VA
2000 Lonesome Pine Regional Library, Wise, VA
2000 Tulgey Wood Gallery, Wytheville, VA
1999 Brainerd Gallery, Bluefield, WV
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED)2023 BOP! Adventures in Collage, curated by Ray Borchers and Paloma Trecka, The Dime (T.F. Projects), Chicago
2023 Annual Open Call Exhibition, MEPAINTSME, USA
2022 unSEEN: The Unpredictable Forms of Drawing, curated by Brian Novatny, Mirjana Dušić, and Ljuba Jovićević, Belgrade, Serbia
2022 Slight of Hand: Small Works by Contemporary Artists, MEPAINTSME, USA
2022 Visionary Virginians: The Folk Art Collection of William and Ann Oppenhimer, Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Richmond, VA
2022 I Walk Thru Walls, MEPAINTSME, USA
2022 À La Racine, curated by Stéphane Blanquet, Aix en Provence, France
2022 Natural Abstraction, Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York, NY
2021 Embracing the Question: A Conversation with Eclectic Artwork, Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
2021 Nexus Singularity Takeover, Nexus Singularity (American Primitive) at Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2021 Outsider Art Fair NYC, with American Primitive Gallery, New York, NY
2020 Art Brut Global -- Phase III: Here and Now (online exhibit), Outsider Art Fair with American Primitive Gallery, New York, NY
2019 PARENTING: An Art without a Manual, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
2018 Self-Taught Art By Any of Its Names, Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
2016 Contemporary Redux, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA
2015 dRaw, Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Chicago, IL
2015 Rebecca and Joseph Meyerhoff Permanent Collection Gallery, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
2013 Outsider Art Fair, Paris, France
2012 Works on Paper from the Folk Art Collection, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
2011 All Things Round: Galaxies, Eyeballs & Karma, The American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, MD
COLLECTIONSThe American Folk Art Museum
The American Visionary Art Museum
High Museum of Art
Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
The Taubman Museum of Art
Longwood University
The University of Richmond