Professor Coco Presents The Artistry of Don Kommit

Joe Coco, adjunct professor of art and music, displayed the work of his late mentor, Don Kommit, in Taylor Memorial Library to celebrate the release of his book from January 1 to March 31.

The Artistry of Don Kommit posthumously chronicles the life and artistic talent of Coco’s high school art teacher and mentor and includes commentary from his friends, family, and colleagues. The book can be found in Taylor Memorial Library. 

“The power of having an art form is that you can use it as therapy,” said Coco. 

According to Coco, Kommit’s students maintained a friendship with him over the years and many went on to have successful careers. Kommit was an educator for 40 years. Before Kommit passed away in June 2022, Coco organized his artwork to compile into a book. According to Coco, his legacy consists of over 30,000 drawings of students, 150,000 total drawings, and 1,550 sketchbooks, which were housed in eight large bookcases. 

“As a contemporary artist,” said Coco, “[Kommit] is probably up there with only about five or ten percent of 20th century artists that would’ve had that much work done in a lifetime.”

Kommit also became heavily involved in the art communities of the Patterson Museum and Passaic Community College. He was a major proponent in renovating the Phoenix and Essex Mill in Patterson to provide affordable housing to artists back in the mid-1980s. He was also a part of the Silk City Poets of Patterson, helped grow the writing program at Passaic Community College, and created after-school art workshops for students at the Ivanhoe Wheelhouse in Patterson, NJ.

Kommit also did an illustration of Coco back in high school, in a room that is a combo of the cafeteria and an art classroom. “He’s able to juxtapose the place I’m in with something that he connects as a symbol,” said Coco. “The metaphor for the whole drawing would be: I’m in an institution. The auditorium represents the body of students. I’m in an individual classroom. I’m only there for 45 minutes at a time. The disconnect, I think he saw that on the faces of students a lot and asked himself, how can I get students engaged?”

Coco visited his mentor around 2020 after Kommit’s throat cancer diagnosis. As Kommit’s health declined, he requested his work be made into a book. With the help of a student-intern, Kara Cupples in the spring of 2024, Coco put together his book. 

Something most notable about the art is the use of writing. “He’s always making double entendres and double word meanings, using the letter forms to be a form of a drawing itself, which is pretty clever, almost like a graffiti artist,” said Coco.

He also made spontaneous art using random images he found in newspapers and magazines, such as actress Angela Lansbury or a congressman. According to Coco, Kommit would use masking tape or cellophane on top of the image and write commentary on top with a pen or marker.

Kommit also spent the last several years of his life drawing men in hats, which, according to Coco, were inspired by old movie and television characters, such as the titular character from the legal drama Perry Mason (1957-1966). “[Kommit] also loved wearing a hat, because he felt dressed up in a hat.”

According to Coco, Kommit was also connected to several influential artists of the 20th century, such as Bob Dylan and Alan Ginsberg. Kommit’s high school English teacher was also Ginsberg’s father. 

Ginsberg visited Patterson, NJ, regularly in the ‘80s as Passaic Community College was being developed. Kommit started the poetry center there and according to Coco, Ginsberg would read his work at the events.

Then, Dylan visited Patterson to write his song, “Hurricane,” about Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the Black-American boxer who was wrongfully convicted of murder. Dylan, according to Coco, wanted to learn more about Patterson, so he would spend time with Ginsberg and Kommit.

To read more about Kommit’s life, influence, and art, visit Taylor Memorial Library to read The Artistry of Don Kommit by Joe Coco.