Today’s Guest: Peter Kuper, artist, Drawn to New York
Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of stick-figure drawers who are blind to the difference between what they create and what artist Peter Kuper does… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!
If you love the speed, contradictions, dangers and delights of Manhattan, you’ll find a lot to love in artist Peter Kuper’s new graphic collection, Drawn to New York.
I only hesitate to call it a graphic novel, because it is so much more than a single comic story – or even stories – in book form.
PETER KUPER podcast excerpt: “If you don’t want to rub shoulders with people, New York is definitely not your town.”
My power with words probably won’t do justice to the remarkable variety of artistic styles and messages found in Kuper’s book, so let me just give a few examples of what’s inside and then Peter will join us to explain:
• There is an illustration of the Empire State Building, tipped upside down and looking more like a hypodermic needle;
• In one short story, Kuper and a friend climb the suspension bands on the Brooklyn Bridge late at night only to end the evening with a less than celebratory hooker;
• We also get an idea of what would happen if a modern-day Tarzan came to New York;
• And Kuper shows us how a little old lady came to be crossing a busy street alone late one night.
There are also myriad single page illustrations and graphics that could probably be turned into a series of stand-alone posters, such as Mickey Mouse standing amidst the chaos of the city saying, “Remain Calm.” Another helpful sketch is called “Odorama: A visual guide to city smells.” Use your imagination to figure out what that’s about.
This is Peter Kuper’s second visit to Mr. Media. He was actually one of the podcast’s first-ever guests, back in 2007, promoting his graphic novel, Stop Forgetting to Remember.
Peter Kuper Website • Facebook • Twitter • Order Drawn to New York from Amazon.com
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