Eric Drooker

Eric Drooker (* 1958 in New York City , USA ) is an American drawing artist and cartoonist .

Life

Drooker grew up in New York's Lower East Side . At that time, the district was mainly home to working-class immigrants , and there was a left-wing, politically active mood. Drooker's grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe and they influenced him with anarchist ideas. Drooker took an early interest in the art of drawing and cartoons, especially the woodcut literature by Frans Masereel and Lynd Ward , as well as the underground comics by Robert Crumb .

Drooker learned sculpture at Cooper Union in New York. After completing his studies, he returned to drawing and designed posters and political leaflets. His black and white pictures are reminiscent of Masereel and the expressionism of the 1930s. They were widely copied and used, sometimes for commercial purposes and without a license. But they were popular enough to give him a small income as a street artist. In the 1980s, Drooker was part of the New York squatter scene and experienced intolerance and the crackdown by the police against street artists and musicians.

His first publications were in left-wing politics and music magazines. He later sold drawings to publications with a larger audience. His first book, Flood! got by without any texts and won the American Book Award . In the 1990s, Drooker expanded his spectrum from drawing to painting. He designed several covers for The New Yorker magazine and Allen Ginsberg's Illuminated Poems magazine . His third book, Street Posters and Ballads of the Lower East Side, is a collection of comics, pictures, essays, and music.

In the 1990s, the German punk band … But Alive used Eric Drooker drawings on most of their album covers .

The animations in the film Howl - The Howl are based on the book "Illuminated Poems" published by Drooker with Allen Ginsberg . Drooker also worked on the animation and design of the film.

Drooker lived in the Lower East Side until 1998, since then in Berkeley .

Works

• Flood! A Novel in Pictures . Dark Horse Comics 1992, ISBN 1569718210 .
• Illuminated Poems (with Allen Ginsberg). Four Walls Eight Windows 1996, ISBN 1568580703 .
• Street Posters and Ballads of the Lower East Side. A Selection of Songs, Poems, and Graphics . Seven Stories Press 1998, ISBN 1888363770 .
• Blood Song. A silent ballad . Dark Horse Comics 2002, ISBN 015600884X .
• Portraits of Israelis & Palestinians: For My Parents (with Seth Tobocman). Soft Skull Pr 2003, ISBN 1887128832 .
• Howl (with Allen Ginsberg). Harper Perennial; Original edition 2010, ISBN 0062015176 .

Web links

• Eric Drookers website (English)