Roger Danilo Carmona is an artist, teacher, and colorman based in New York City since 2002. Born in León, Nicaragua, and raised in Hialeah, FL, his upbringing in a city shaped by immigration and resilience instilled a deep awareness of language—as a tool to survive, connect, and remember. This foundation informs his approach to painting as a site of documentation, translation, and reflection.
Carmona’s practice begins in a pocket sketchbook, where notes and fragments evolve into improvisational paintings. Influenced by a family tradition of storytelling and comedy, he treats painting as a thought experiment, constructing a visual memory palace to process themes of miscommunication and anxiety. Using an invented visual language, he invites viewers to see form and color as dynamic characters on an open-ended stage. His work is inseparable from his deep material knowledge, developed over nearly twenty years as the General Manager of Kremer Pigments NYC. This expertise allows him to shape the unique character of each piece by carefully preparing and blending raw materials to fit his narrative needs.
Following the store's 2025 closure, Carmona was recognized as a fundamental figure in the painting community, described in the recent Hyperallergic tribute “The Pigment Shop That Taught Me How to See” as "one of the most trusted paint experts in New York City." A vocal advocate for material literacy, he shares this technical expertise through lectures at institutions including SVA, MICA, SMFA, and FIT, and has been featured on The Met’s Immaterial podcast and the CAA materials science panel. He discussed egg tempera techniques for Jarrett Earnest’s exhibition The Young and Evil at David Zwirner and appears in Pascale Bouhénic’s documentary Mark Rothko, la peinture vous regarde (Arte). His work has been exhibited at Gladstone Gallery, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Underdonk, and Galleria Sasamina in Italy. He is the CEO and Co-founder of the New York Pigment Company, a forthcoming color research institution and retail space opening in January 2026.
American. Born in Leon, Nicaragua
MFA 2010 Bard College, Milton Avery School of Art in Annandale on Hudson, NY
BFA 2006 School of Visual Arts, New York City, honors graduate
CEO, Co-founder 2026 New York Pigment Co. New York City
Studio located in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
Solo Exhibitions
Insinuazioni (Innuendos), Galleria Sasamina, Calabria, Italy, 2022
Open Source Meme, CS Gallery, Miami, FL, 2009
Selected Group Exhibitions
Chaos and Order, MC Gallery, New York, NY, 2023
Intimate Immensity, The Empty Circle, Brooklyn, NY, 2022
Drawing 2020, Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY, 2020
Manatee, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Chicago, IL, 2018
Private Practice, Underdonk, Brooklyn, NY, 2017
Ice Storm, The Willows, Brooklyn, NY, 2017
Fresh Ingredients, CS Gallery, Miami FL, 2013, curator
Roger Danilo Carmona and Kenny Rivero, Gallery Fofo, Rahway, NJ, 2010
Residencies and Artist Registry
White Columns Curated Artist Registry, 2023
Urban Soil Institute, Resident Artist/Scientist, Swale House, Governor's Island, 2021, 2022
Selected Lectures
The Perversity of Technique, a conversation with Jarrett Earnest at David Zwirner in
conjunction with the exhibition “The Young and Evil”, 2019
Premodern Paint: Postmodern Practice: Encaustic, Egg Tempera, and Casein in the
Twenty-First Century, College Art Association Annual Conference, 2019
Painting As Food, Artisan Expo, 2018
The Alchemy of Light, Pioneer Works, 2016
Visiting Artist Lecturer
MICA Hoffberger Painting Graduate School, Baltimore, Maryland
Rhode Island School of Design, Art Conservation Department, Rhode Island
School of Visual Arts, Painting Department, New York City
Golden Gate Atelier, Oakland, California
Fashion Institute of Technology, Painting & Illustration Department, New York City
SUNY Purchase, Graduate School Committee
Member of the American Institute of Conservation
General Manager, Kremer Pigments Inc., 2007-2025
CEO, Co-founder, New York Pigment Co. since 2025
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