Marguerite Van Cook
Encyclopedia
Marguerite Van Cook 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, Columbia University
for English BA and Modern European Studies MA. She currently attends the CUNY Graduate Center
in the French PH.D program.
, UK Punk band, who toured as opening act for The Clash
and The Slits
on the “Sort it Out Tour.” After this group disbanded up she joined “Steppin' Razor” an all female reggae band as the bass player and with them opened for Yellow Man at Harlem World. She continues to perform at downtown New York venues.
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 Gallery
in 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.
and Rev.Jen’s series Electra Elf.
, Van Cook won the Van Rensselaer Poetry Prize, previously won by notables such as John Berryman
and Thomas Merton
. Her book "Stigma" is in the "Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection" and her periodical The Murdering Class was carried by art book distributors "Printed Matter". Other publications in which her work has appeared include "Peau Sensible", or "Sensitive Skin", "The Hooded Utilitarian" and in Sounds for whom she wrote music reviews.
. 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.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and now resides in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
/East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
. She attended Portsmouth College of Art and Design, Northumbria University
Northumbria University
Northumbria University is an academic institution located in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England. It is a member of the University Alliance.- History :...
Graphic and Fine Arts programs, BMCC, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
for English BA and Modern European Studies MA. She currently attends the CUNY Graduate Center
CUNY Graduate Center
The Graduate Center of the City University of New York brings together graduate education, advanced research, and public programming to midtown Manhattan hosting 4,600 students, 33 doctoral programs, 7 master's programs, and 30 research centers and institutes...
in the French PH.D program.
Music
Van Cook was the lead singer for The InnocentsThe Innocents (UK punk band)
The Innocents formed in the spring of 1978 and played frequently with The Clash and The Slits. The original lineup was predominantly female with four women and one male....
, UK Punk band, who toured as opening act for The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
and The Slits
The Slits
The Slits were a British punk rock band. The quartet was formed in 1976 by members of the bands The Flowers of Romance and The Castrators. The members were Ari Up , who died of cancer in October 2010, and Palmolive , with Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt replacing founding members, Kate Korus and...
on the “Sort it Out Tour.” After this group disbanded up she joined “Steppin' Razor” an all female reggae band as the bass player and with them opened for Yellow Man at Harlem World. She continues to perform at downtown New York venues.
Art career
Van Cook opened and ran Ground Zero Gallery NY with her partner James RombergerJames Romberger
James Romberger 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...
in the East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
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 Gallery
National Portrait Gallery (United States)
The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in Washington, D.C., administered by the Smithsonian Institution. Its collections focus on images of famous individual Americans.-Building:...
in 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
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
, 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
Marilyn Minter
Marilyn Minter is an American artist currently living and working in New York City. Marilyn Minter has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2005, the Center for Contemporary Art, Cincinnati, Les Rencontres d'Arles festival in 2007,...
, David Wojnarowicz
David Wojnarowicz
David Wojnarowicz was a painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, and activist who was prominent in the New York City art world of the 1980s.-Biography:...
, Christof Kolhofer, Keiko Bonk
Keiko Bonk
Keiko Cecilia Bonk is a Hawaiin American activist, artist, musician and politician.-Life:Born July 13, 1954 in Honolulu, her mother was Fumie Matsuoka and father was William Bonk, an archeologist who died in 2008...
and Luis Frangella. Together they painted installations in New York and in Virginia.
Film
Van Cook produced and directed the film Funky Shui in New York. Additionally, she appeared in David Wojnarowicz and Tommy Turner's film Where Evil Dwells, as well as taking the role of Red Snapper in Nick ZeddNick Zedd
Nick Zedd is an American filmmaker and author based in New York City. He coined the term Cinema of Transgression in 1985 to describe a loose-knit group of like-minded filmmakers and artists using shock value and black humor in their work...
and Rev.Jen’s series Electra Elf.
Writing
While attending Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Van Cook won the Van Rensselaer Poetry Prize, previously won by notables such as John Berryman
John Berryman
John Allyn Berryman was an American poet and scholar, born in McAlester, Oklahoma. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and was considered a key figure in the Confessional school of poetry...
and Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O. was a 20th century Anglo-American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, he was a poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion...
. Her book "Stigma" is in the "Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection" and her periodical The Murdering Class was carried by art book distributors "Printed Matter". Other publications in which her work has appeared include "Peau Sensible", or "Sensitive Skin", "The Hooded Utilitarian" and in Sounds for whom she wrote music reviews.
Comics and graphic novels
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 WojnarowiczDavid Wojnarowicz
David Wojnarowicz was a painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, and activist who was prominent in the New York City art world of the 1980s.-Biography:...
. The original artwork was shown at the New Museum and the comic was included in the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
"Open Ends, Millennium Show". She has worked for DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
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.