James Jean

James Jean is a Taiwanese American visual artist working primarily in painting and drawing. He lives and works in Los Angeles, where he moved from New York in 2003.[2]

James Jean
Born1979 (age 40–41)
Taipei, Taiwan
NationalityTaiwanese American
EducationSchool of Visual Arts[1]
Known forPainting

Early life

Jean was born in Taiwan and raised in New Jersey.[3] During his early education, he explored various forms of artistic expression, including the piano and trumpet.[4] He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City, from which he graduated in 2001.[1][5]

Early Career

In 2001, Jean became a cover artist for DC Comics and Marvel Comics, garnering seven Eisner awards, three consecutive 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. He also worked in advertising,[6] and has contributed to many national and international publications. His clients included Time Magazine, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, ESPN, Atlantic Records, Target, Linkin Park, Playboy, Knopf, Prada among others. He illustrated covers for the comic book series Fables and The Umbrella Academy, for which he has won six Eisner Awards for "Best Cover Artist".[7] In 2006, he won Best Artist from the World Fantasy Awards.[8] He also did the album art for My Chemical Romance 's album The Black Parade, which was released in 2006.

Present Career

In 2008, Jean retired from illustration projects in order to focus on painting.[9][10] Combining abstract figuration with loose, gestural marks, Jean creates layered compositions that evoke personal or collective experiences. Dream-like and at times disorienting, his works are expressive of narratives unbounded in time or space, and draw upon art historical antecedents ranging from Baroque painting traditions to Japanese woodblock prints and Chinese silk scroll paintings.[11] [12] [13] [14]

Notable works
Prada advertisement featuring James Jean designs

Prada

In 2007, Jean created a mural for the Prada Epicenter stores in New York and Los Angeles.[15] He also created a backdrop for Prada's Spring/Summer 2008 show in Milan.[16]

Aspects of the Epicenter mural and the Milan wallpaper were transformed into clothing, handbags, shoes, and packaging. Prada undertook a global campaign that featured Jean's work in advertising environments, animation, and special events.

In 2008, Jean again collaborated with Prada, developing an animated short based on the wallpapers, clothing, and accessories produced in 2007. He wrote, storyboarded, and did the visual development for the animation, which would be eventually titled "Trembled Blossoms", taken from the poem "Ode to Psyche”, by John Keats.

Jean reunited with Prada to create prints for its Resort 2018 collection. He described the visual effect as a "tangle of floral elements occasionally populated and overrun by rabbits." [17] Prada brought the collection to Shanghai as part of the brand's unveiling of Rong Zhai, a 20th-century mansion it restored, and exclusive looks were debuted in vivid reds, yellows, and blues.[17]

Jean's images were used for the brand's SS2018 Menswear collection. His work also served as the set design for the collection's premiere at the Via Fogazzaro space. Jean's collaboration with Prada brought images inspired by graphic novels to high-fashion pieces, blending the superhuman with the human, and with a nod to the thick black lines that divide illustration panels.[18]

Lotte Museum of Art

In 2019, Jean brought his largest solo exhibition so far, "Eternal Journey", to Seoul's Lotte Museum of Art. This exhibit was divided into five sections according to the colors of Asian philosophy (red, blue, black, white, and yellow). Jean showcased over 500 artworks, including new pieces which were inspired by Seoul's modernity. One notable piece was the 10 meter wide painting "Descendants -- Blue Wood." This piece was inspired by the Lotte World Tower and its resemblance to the fairy tale, Jack and the Beanstalk. Other artworks include drawings, sculptures, and various installations. [19][20]

Critical analysis

Dana Jennings of The New York Times says of Jean's work: "And, as with his Fables work, the paintings and illustrations are often suffused with a dreamy romanticism and lyricism worthy of Maxfield Parrish, even as Mr. Jean subverts those and other isms."[5]

Published works

Jean currently has seven published works, all of which collect his illustrations and art: Process Recess volumes 1 - 3 (v2 & v3 have both a regular and a special edition), Fables: Covers, XOXO and Kindling:12 Removable Prints. Kindling is an oversized poster book featuring works from Jean's 2009 gallery show of the same name. The Process Recess volumes display Jean's process in his illustrations, by showing both the original sketches and the final coloring, Process Recess is also the name of his blog, which includes similar content. Fables: Covers is a collection of the cover art illustrations James Jean has made for the comic book series Fables. XOXO is a selection of his illustrations displayed in the form of postcards.

  • Process Recess (AdHouse Books, 2005) [21]
  • Process Recess 2: Portfolio (AdHouse Books, 2007)[22]
  • Xoxo: Hugs and Kisses (Chronicle Books, 2008) [23]
  • Fables: Covers (DC Comics, 2008) [24]
  • Process Recess 3: The Hallowed Seam (AdHouse Books, 2009) [25]
  • Kindling: 12 Removable Prints (Chronicle Books, 2009) [26]
  • Rift (Chronicle Books, 2010) [27]
  • Rebus (Chronicle Books, 2011) [28]
  • James Jean: Parallel Lives (Tilton Gallery, 2013) [29]
  • Memu: 100 Postcards (Chronicle Books, 2014) [30]
  • Fables: The Complete Covers (DC Comics, 2015) [31]
  • Xenograph (James Jean, 2015) [32]
  • Pareidolia (PIE Books, 2015) [33]
  • Zugzwang (James Jean, 2016) [34]
  • Azimuth (James Jean, 2018) [35]
  • Memu II: 100+ Postcards (James Jean, 2019) [36]
  • Eternal Journey (Lotte Museum of Art, 2019) [37]

References
  1. "Painfully Self-aware And 'Serious' " Archived 2012-03-09 at the Wayback Machine, Communication Arts Insights, March 31, 2009
  2. >https://www.maharam.com/stories/in-conversation-james-jean
  3. Seman, Rob "He draws on comic book love" Archived 2012-07-29 at Archive.today, Daily Record (Morristown), March 30, 2004. Accessed August 30, 2007. "Jean, who grew up in Parsippany on Westminster Drive, was a weekly customer at Funnybooks, on North Beverwyck Road, but never expected his work would one day wind up on store shelves."
  4. "James Jean". Widewalls. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  5. Jennings, Dana. "The Power of Fairy Tales". "Comics Canonization". The New York Times. August 18, 2011
  6. Melrose, Kevin. "The 25 best comic covers of 2008", "Robot 6", Comic Book Resources, January 2, 2009
  7. Irvine, Alex (2008). "Fables". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The Vertigo Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. pp. 72–81. ISBN 978-0-7566-4122-1. OCLC 213309015.
  8. World Fantasy Convention (2010). "Award Winners and Nominees". Archived from the original on 2010-12-01. Retrieved 4 Feb 2011.
  9. "Jean's announcement of retirement from illustration and commercial work". Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2011-05-16.
  10. "James Jean Kindling: New Works on Paper and Canvas". Jonathan LeVine Gallery. 2009. accessed August 20, 2011.
  11. "An Interview with James JeanNeocha – Culture & Creativity in Asia". Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  12. "JAMES JEAN ETERNAL JOURNEY". LOTTE Foundation for Arts. April 4, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  13. "James Jean - Artist Profile". 2016.
  14. Song, Hee-Kyung (2019). James Jean: Eternal Journey (first ed.). Seoul, Korea: Lotte Museum of Art.
  15. Work for Prada featured in TMagazine, The New York Times fashion magazine
  16. "Prada Trembled Blossoms Issue 02" Archived 2010-11-23 at the Wayback Machine. Wallpaper Magazine. accessed August 20, 2011.
  17. "James Jean Shares His Inspiration Behind His Prada Resort 2018 Collection". Luxury Insider. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  18. "Spring 2018 Menswear Prada". Vogue. Vogue. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  19. Herald, The Korea (2019-04-10). "Complete edition of visual artist James Jean". www.koreaherald.com. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  20. "James Jean Opens Largest Solo Exhibition to Date in Seoul, "Eternal Journey"". HYPEBEAST. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  21. Process Recess - AdHouse Books catalog
  22. Process Recess 2 - AdHouse Books catalog
  23. "Xoxo - Chronicle Books catalog". Archived from the original on 2010-08-01. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  24. Fables Covers - DC Comics catalog
  25. Process Recess 3 - AdHouse Books catalog
  26. "Kindling - Chronicle Books catalog". Archived from the original on 2010-02-28. Retrieved 2010-04-16.
  27. "Rift - Chronicle books catalog". Archived from the original on 2010-07-05. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
  28. "Rebus - Chronicle books catalog". Archived from the original on 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
  29. http://www.pressureprinting.com/product/parallel-lives
  30. "Memu - Chronicle books catalog". Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  31. Fables: The Complete Covers - James Jean website
  32. Xenograph - James Jean website Archived 2015-05-07 at the Wayback Machine
  33. Pareidolia - Pie Books catalog
  34. Zugzwang - James Jean website
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