Review

Illustrator to City: It’s Personal

Drawn to New York: An Illustrated Chronicle of Three Decades in New York City

By Steven Kurutz
New York Times
June 5th, 2013

Peter Kuper, the cartoonist and illustrator, has tried to capture his three decades in New York, and the city itself, with Drawn to New York (PM Press; $29.95). “You can’t be comprehensive because it’s too big a piece of pie to swallow – or apple, rather,” Mr. Kuper said. Instead, he inks his own experiences, which seem informed by the twin responses shared by many New York transplants: anxiety and wonder. In one illustration, a lone man looks out from his darkened apartment and wonders how many people are having sex at that moment. Another panel tells the story of a long-ago night when Mr. Kuper and a friend scaled the suspension cables of the Brooklyn Bridge. The artistic styles change from page to page, mirroring the frenetic, unpredictable nature of the city. As Mr. Kuper said, “The thing I like about New York is the quality of feeling like you’re traveling at all times.”

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