Who came first, Every Person or All the Buildings in New York?
18 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in illustrations Tags: drawings, every person in New York, James Gulliver Hancock, Jason Polan, New York buildings
Frankies@457CourtStreet
Firehouse in the Bronx
Can James Gulliver Hancock really do it, draw all the buildings in New York? Well, considering that his previous projects were All the Cars in L.A. and All the Rain in London, that stated goal may be a bit of hyperbole – after all he is not still stuck by the Freeway dodging drive by shootings or getting soaked miserably under an overpass at Waterloo Station, so I guess he eventually had to do like Nixon: declare victory and quietly accept the opposite. In any case, even failure at drawing all the buildings in New York is already looking like a great success.
Hancock, an Australian artist, says he began his project about four years ago. Apparently, he is working diligently at it in order to finish just in time to start all over again, several decades from now.
Self portrait?
I love the drawings, all of them: skylines, skyscrapers, collections of snowy cars or character studies. But I especially love what must be considered his forte: the funky precariously assembled old New York buildings: tenements, row houses, factories, garages. Whereas other buildings may look a bit clumsy and self-conscious, these old veteran New York edifices always look very comfortable lounging in his drawings, bulging at the seams or leaning dangerously amid the microscopic airborne ufos that surround them on the paper as they do in real life. On a visit to his blog one can also shop for drawings, originals at art prices and giclee prints at more reasonable prices. It looks like he has found a way to make a living at his art – Way to go, James! His work is easy to find on the web and in the media, as this project really touches a soft spot in every New Yorker’s heart. Check him out at Brain Pickings and at decor8.
All three images from his blogspot, All the Buildings in New York.
As crazy as All the Buildings might sound, it is not the first such idea and won’t be the last. Jason Polan is doing Every Person in New York, and he has been doing them for several years. And he has got the blog to prove it. in fact, several blogs…. since he seems to be of a less linear minded bent than James, Jason is also drawing every position of his own hand! and if that weren’t ambidextrous enough, he seems to be the eminence gris behind the 53rd Street Biological Society, which is probably not located anywhere near 53rd Street and has as much or as little to do with biology as you or me. Of course, all of this is psychotically ambitious, so he has made certain accommodations for himself. If I am assuming correctly, he is waiting for Every Person in New York to eat at the Taco Bell on 14th Street. All three images from Every Person in New York Blogspot.
Check out his great drawings of Every Person in New York and those of all the other fabulous artists linked to on the Taco Bell and Biological websites!
