Art Peaks – “Special Agent” by Gina Gress for Damn Fine Coffee at Meltdown Comics

In 2013, the former Meltdown Comics shop in Los Angeles, California, held an art exhibition celebrating Mark Frost and David Lynch’s iconic television series Twin Peaks from June 8-21. Titled “Damn Fine Coffee,” this exhibition was curated by Nico Colaleo and featured 40 artists from around the entertainment industry. One artist from the show named Gina Gress created a playful image of Audrey Horne and Special Agent Dale Cooper in the Red Room.

“DAMN FINE COFFEE” AT MELTDOWN COMICS FROM JUNE 8-21, 2013

On October 26, 1993, Gaston Dominguez-Letelier founded Meltdown Comics, once located at 7522 West Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, as a hub for comic book and geek culture. Thanks to a joint venture with Nerdist, the shop was also home to NerdMelt Showroom, a small stage that launched L.A. comedians. Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon, and Jonah Ray filmed “The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail” at the Showroom from 2010-2016. It later appeared on Comedy Central for three seasons. The shop closed on March 30, 2018 after almost 25 years in business.

From June 8-21, 2013, Nico Colaleo curated an art exhibition celebrating Twin Peaks titled “DAMN FINE COFFEE.” From the Wayback Machine, I found the original flyer and description for this exhibit:

Donuts and a hot cup of joe, anyone? Damn Fine Coffee brings you back to David Lynch’s mysterious town of Twin Peaks, with an artistic celebration brought to you by over 40 talented artists from around the industry. Join us for the opening reception at Nerdist Showroom at Meltdown Comics (7522 Sunset Blvd.) Saturday, June 8th, 2013 from 7pm-10pm. (Tell ‘em the Log Lady sent ya!)

Enjoy Twin Peaks-themed refreshments! Treat your tastebuds to a donut from Winchell’s! Be entertained by musical accompaniments, themed decor, and photo-ready backdrops! And who knows…there might even be surprise guests! In a place like Twin Peaks, only one thing’s for sure: the owls are not what they seem.

Colelo is a “cartoon maker and Emmy Award winning editor” who created Ollie & Scoops and DreamWorksTV’s Too Loud. He’s also an art gallery curator who is also a David Lynch and Twin Peaks fan. He recently curated “Somewhere in Dreams: An Artistic Celebration of David Lynch” at CTN Studios from January to February 2026.

Similar to the Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me 20th Anniversary Exhibition at Copro Gallery in Spring 2012, this exhibit was from a time before The Missing Pieces or Twin Peaks: The Return were things. These art exhibits were a way to keep Frost and Lynch’s wonderful and strange alive. I will feature several pieces from the Meltdown Comics exhibition for the recurring Art Peaks series.

“SPECIAL AGENT” BY GINA GRESS

Gina Gress created this framed image titled “Special Agent” for the “Damn Fine Coffee” exhibition.  Gress is a Storyboard Director/Artist previously at Warner Brothers, Netflix, DreamWorks TV, and Disney. She is a writer, known for Star vs. the Forces of Evil (2012), Sanjay and Craig (2013), DC Super Hero Girls (2019). On Instagram, you can find her at ggbonecrusher.

Months after the exhibition, Gina shared the original artwork on her blog, GG’s Blurg. On November 17, 2013, she wrote how Audrey and Cooper were her favorite characters, “I did this for my friend Nico’s Twin Peaks art show a few months back, held at Meltdown Comics.  It’s my two favorite characters from that show, Audrey and the Mayor of Portlandia!”

The artwork was displayed on a wall in Meltdown Comics (look in the center of the wall). I believe it was for sale but I don’t have a listing price or who may have purchased it.

While I didn’t find any additional images for Gina’s Audrey and Cooper artwork, I did find these awesome drawings of another Special Agent – Dana Scully from The X-Files. Gress posted it to her Instagram account on March 20, 2016.