It’s not every day that an artist bares his universe to the people of the world. But famed Taiwanese-American artist James Jean did just that during his second visit to Manila early January to promote his new book “Rebus.”
Jean did a series of talk aside from book signing at the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, Taft Avenue, Manila, and Ateneo de Manila, Katipunan, Quezon City, sponsored by Fully Booked.
Jean’s claim to fame is not just his long and shiny hair but the outstanding covers he did for DC Comics’ “Fables.” He said that doing the covers for seven years gave him a sense of “legitimacy” as an artist.
The alumna of School of Visual Arts of New York walked the audience on his art process: from start to finish, from sketches to finished product. He divided his “universe” into four stages: history/context, images/dreams, expression/representation, and observation/consumption.
His system is “fed by the universe” and it starts with history/context. Thus, begins the fantastic world of Jean as an immigrant in New Jersey. “There is no culture there but the culture of comic books,” he said, which also explains the richness of his imagination that he can create out-of-ordinary worlds and mind-boggling kinds of species.
His talent is his ticket to DC Comics creating covers that generated a cult following. Strangely, Jean took special mention of his janitor cover in “Fables” as one of his notable ones. “It’s incredible to be able to paint a janitor on the cover alongside the others,” he said.
Jean’s images/dreams come to life in his sketchbooks. “It’s a different experience (just) looking at sketchbooks,” he said. His sketches come from all over. He showed his sketch of a scene in a subway only the creatures are half-human and half-something else, a product of his imagination.
The kind of works he does is Jean’s way of expression/representation. He narrated how he works on his sketches by layering, coloring, and playing around different elements. “We’re reactive to that type of work,” he explained, “We do some additional installation to make it more alive and even complicated.”
The whole spectrum of experience is articulated in observation/consumption. “I don’t like to constrain myself to just one thing,” he said.
Jean is seemingly unaffected by fame donning an all-black ensemble and sneakers while answering questions with wit, sarcasm, and sincerity. When asked by someone from the audience what he would be doing if he were not an artist, Jean replied: “I probably be doing Sasha Grey” which brought the house down. Sasha Grey modelled for Jean a couple of times. Sasha Grey is now a Hollywood celebrity after a stint in adult movies.
One of his memorable works is the one he did with fashion label Prada. In 2007, Prada commissioned Jean to do the mural for the Prada Epicenter stores in New York and Los Angeles. His works was also used as backdrops for the label’s fashion pictorials. The following year, Jean developed an animated short, “Trembled Blossoms,” based on those works where he did the storyboard and visual development. Jean also did the cover for Gerard Way the rock band My Chemical Romance for the latter’s comic book titled “Umbrella Academy.”
However, there might be no chance for Jean to work with another artist because “I don’t like collaborating with anyone,” and gave no explanation for it without sounding rude or apologetic, just honest.
Jean is a star in his own right. He’s like a god who created these bizarre worlds of bizarre creatures. He received seven Eisner awards, three Harvey awards, two gold medals and a silver from the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, and a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators of New York. In 2006, he won Best Artist from the World Fantasy Awards.
Jean credits his education at the SVA of New York for what he has become and what has been coming out of his imagination. “Art school affected a lot of what I do now,” he said.
He also signified his intent on making his art “wearable” by applying them to fabrics or making them as pieces of jewelry. That’s what’s keeping him busy these days aside from gallery shows and artist talks.
Jean compiled all his illustrations and art and produced seven books: “Process Recess” (2005), “Process Recess 2: Portfolio” (2007), “Xoxo: Hugs and Kisses” (2008), “Fables: Covers” (2008), “Process Recess 3: The Hallowed Seam” (2009), “Kindling: 12 Removable Prints” (2009), “Rift” (2010), and the latest, “Rebus” (2011), all of which are available at Fully Booked.
Anyone who needs to escape this world can just visit the less ordinary universe of James Jean.
