Let's Talk, James Jean

http://www.jamesjean.com/

Artists run the gamut in terms of style, approach, and output. There are those who suffer to produce work while others create with relative ease. And then there are those who gush with creativity, ideas spilling from their minds like blood rushes to the heart. James Jean is this type of artist. Born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1979, James was raised in New Jersey and pursued his art education at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Upon graduating, he began work as a commercial artist, producing art and illustration for a varied group of clients —Rolling Stone,The New York Times, ESPN, Atlantic Records, Prada. But what he became best known for was his Eisner and Harvey Award-winning cover work for DC Comics’Fablesseries. In recent years, however, James has begun looking inward for inspiration—composing large-scale paintings and works on paper intended for gallery audiences. His debut solo show, an exhibition titled “Fledgling,” opens in January of 2009 at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York. James took a break from painting to talk about his work. Here’s how our conversation played out.