Catch 20x200 artist Jason Polan talking with Jen Bekman in this episode of Live With Art!
This is a tale of two besties. But it’s also about optimism unfettered by impossibility, and inclusiveness vs. elitism, and NYC’s special charisma, and uncompromising pen preferences. And that’s just the first 20 mins of this extra special ep.
Tune into the newest installment of our Live with Art podcast to eavesdrop on super buds and longtime collaborators Jen Bekman (our artist-befriending founder) and Jason Polan (his unparalleled highness of pen-sketching). Jason’s idiosyncratic, beguilingly evocative, easy-going drawing style has been firing up 20x200 collectors since the very beginning, and charming the art world at large in the meantime. He’s probably best known for his Every Person in New York project, and the eponymously titled 408 page collection of thousands of the artist’s dynamic drawings of, well, you mighta guessed: people in New York City. Published by Chronicle Books (with a foreword by Kristen Wiig) in 2015, it’s one of team 20x200's requisite coffee table tomes, it’s chock full of Jason’s incredible portraits and, as you’ll discover when you listen to the ‘cast, it weighs as much as Infinite Jest. Feel free to read into that.
That Jason made it his mission to draw every person in New York—as ambitious and unrealistic a project as it is sincere and distinctive—speaks volumes about the kind of artist (and human) he is. It’s the tenth anniversary of the project, and it’s been ten years since 20x200 released editions from that collection in our very first year of launching. Jen and Jason have also been friends for over a decade. Which is more a collection of cool factz than any point in particular. Just lend this podcast an ear and prepare to be entertained.
With art for everyone on the airwaves,
Jen Bekman + Team 20x200
P.S. Why not shop while you listen? We’re taking 25% off our Arbor Day Art collection through Monday 4/30 with code TREEGLEE. Get on it.
