American, contemporary.
Born 1967, Princeton, West Virginia.
J.J. Cromer was born on November 21, 1967, in Princeton, West Virginia, to parents who were both science teachers. His mother's love of birds inspired her naming him "John J." after famed bird illustrator John James Aubudon. Cromer was raised in rural Tazewell County, Virginia. "We always had animals: dogs, cats, turtles, fish, ducks, chickens and a rooster named Duke." The living room was filled with scientific apparata - microscopes, telescopes, and the family rock collection. Collecting and identifying bugs and plants were frequent family activities along with extensive family camping trips during the summer. Cromer really enjoyed drawing as a hobby until a critical seventh-grade art teacher shut down his interest.
Turning to books, Cromer loved reading science fiction and fantasy, and began writing his own at an early age. Cromer received a bachelor's degree in history, and then earned two additional degrees in English and library science. He then worked as a librarian at a public library, where he met his wife, Mary. Only after marriage did Cromer begin to draw again. What was at
first a renewed hobby quickly gave way to obsession. His drawings developed into detailed paintings, all inspired and expressive of his concern with current issues, such as war, racism, science and technology, freedom of expression, class inequities, and environmentalism. Similarly impassioned by the destruction of the environment, Mary became an attorney and practices environmental law.
Intensely private, J.J. and Mary treasure their farm life, where Cromer now spends full days painting. Cromer concludes:
"I am very interested in the other human beings I share this planet with. I'm motivated by a humanistic hope that my voice can contribute to our cultural conversation. However small and inconsequential my voice is, it's still my voice. This need to 'speak' drives my artwork. In other words, what it means to be a good human being in community with other human beings. This is very important to me."
- Courtesy of American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore
Selected Exhibitions
2017, NEW HORIZONS: Self-Taught Art in the 21st Century, Hickory Museum of Art, Hickory
2016, Contemporary Redux, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke
2016, 1st Triennial of Self-Taught Visionary Art, Muzej naivne i marginalne umetnosti, Jagodina
2015, dRaw, INtuit: The Center for INtuitive and Outsider Art, Chicago
2014, Les Arts Buissonniers, Musée des Arts Buissonniers, Saint-Sever-du-Moustier
2013, Raw Vision: 25 Years of Outsider Art, Halle Saint Pierre, Paris
2013, Outsider Art Fair, American Primitive Gallery, Paris
2012, Works on Paper from the Folk Art Collection, High Museum of Art, Atlanta
2011, All Things Round: Galaxies, Eyeballs & Karma, American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore
2010, JJ Cromer: A Study of Passing Events, The Athenaeum, Alexandria (Virginia)
2008, Our Stampedes are Compatible: A Selection of Works by JJ Cromer, Staniar Gallery, Washington & Lee University, Lexington (Virginia)
2003, JJ Cromer, Grey Carter - Objects of Art, McLean (Virginia)
Selected Collections
American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore
High Museum of Art, Atlanta
INTUIT: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, Milwaukee
Longwood University, Farmville (Virginia)
Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke (Virginia)
University of Richmond, Virginia
University of Virginia's College at Wise
Selected Bibliography
"JJ Cromer," Raw Vision: 25 ans d'Art Brut, exhibition catalogue, ed. Martine Lusardy and John Maizels, Halle Saint Pierre, Paris, 2013.
Campbell, Cara Z., "Visual Vocabularies of JJ Cromer," Raw Vision, #70, Fall 2010.
Gunts, Edward, "Visionary Arts Museum Returns to Its Inspired Roots," Baltimore Sun, October 5, 2008.