Thomas Woodruff (artist)

It is an overly sentimentalized self-portrait painted in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, showing Woodruff’s feelings of anger and loss.

[4][1] In 2022 he had an exhibition entitled Resurrection at the Vito Schnabel Gallery that was hailed as a "luminous show" by The Brooklyn Rail.

The Tale of a Fastidious Feral, published by Fantagraphics was called "the Sistine Chapel of graphic novels" by Steven Heller in an article in Print Magazine[7] and praised as the "gorgeous" for being "Hand-lettered with lush color paintings and moody charcoal drawings" by The A.V.

[8] The book was nominated for four Eisner Awards in the categories Best Graphic Album (New), Best Painter/Multimedia Artist, Best Lettering, and Best Publication Design.

The nominations prompted criticism by former students, who described him as an emotionally abusive teacher, and the book as culturally appropriative.