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

Drawn to New York 2013 Peter Kuper All rights reserved www.peterkuper.com Introduction 2013 Eric Drooker Design by Peter Kuper Production assistance Minah Kim, Edwin Vazquez and Hilary Allison. Published by PM Press PO Box 23912 Oakland, CA 94623 510-658-3906 First edition April, 2013 ISBN: 978-1-60486-722-0 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTROL NUMBER 2012954996 Printed in Malaysia Also by the author from PM Press: Diario de Oaxaca A Sketchbook Journal of Two Years in Mexico ISBN: 978-1-60486-071-9 $29.95

PM Press was founded at the end of 2007 by a small collection of folks with decades of publishing, media, and organizing experience. PM Press co-conspirators have published and distributed hundreds of books, pamphlets, CDs, and DVDs. Members of PM have founded enduring book fairs, spearheaded victorious tenant organizing campaigns, and worked closely with bookstores, academic conferences, and even rock bands to deliver political and challenging ideas to all walks of life. Were old enough to know what were doing and young enough to know whats at stake. For more information please visit us at www.pmpress.org Some of the material in Drawn to New York originally appeared in World War 3, SP Revista de Libros, The New York Times, Nozone, The New Yorker, The Village Voice, New York Press, Fantagraphics Books, Speechless, Blab!, Heavy Metal, Poz, New York Magazine, MTV, Fortune, Oporto Festival, Scenario magazine, N.Y.

Mix, Forbes, Esquire, the MoCCA festival, Pulse!, Road Strips and Aperture. Dedicated to the memory of Boris Aplon: actor, uncle and my guiding light to Manhattan. Thanks to Emily and Betty Russell, Jim Rasenberger, Kate Kuper and Rocky Maffit for their sharp editorial advice. Eric Drooker for his eloquent intro, Junot Daz for the kind words, John Thomas for his legal insight, Minah Kim, Hilary Allison and Edwin Vazquez for helping with book production, Craig, Ramsey and all the great people at PM Press, Francisco, Diego, and Eduardo at Sexto Piso for a launch pad, all my co-conspirators at World War 3 and the many friends and family who helped make New York City my home : David and Betsy Klein, John and Jim Zimmerman, Martha, Leslie, Jan, Seth, Tony, Rose, Steve, Janet, Molly and Philip, Scott and Elena, Alan and Ginger, Holly, my daughter Emily and about eight million other people.

Like moths to a flame, millions are drawn to New York but why?Whats the attraction to the big citythe eternal Babelwith its endless confusion of tongues? Whats all the hubbub?What is it that draws so many peopleparticularly artiststo Gotham?Is it the buildings? The lights? The sound? The fury?The wailing sirens at 3 A.M.? The incessant rumble of nonstop express trains on rusted subway tracks?Or is it simply the seduction of anonymity in the big city a chance to reinvent oneself in the rush hour crowd?Many come as a career move, hoping to be discovered by others or at least to find themselves.(Having been born and raised in Gotham, I realized I would need to leave New York in order to lose myself but thats another story.)At the tender age of eighteen, Peter Kuper packed his midwestern bags, and left Clevelands flatlands for good. When he arrived in Gothams vertical landscape, his eyes opened wide at the tall, dark, multifaceted muse who would haunt and inspire him for decades.As a cartoonist and graphic novelist, Kupers art reflects the sequential grid that is Manhattan.

Each window tells a story, and the rows of squares and infinite right angles form a map of one mans journey through the modern labyrinth.When viewed as a whole, as in this volume, Kupers concrete visions of New York amount to an epic love poeman homage to his adopted city. One feels a deep urban vertigo when gazing at his strips of the megacity he now calls home. Through Kupers paintbrush and pen, Gothams screaming whirlpools of cement, bulletproof glass, aging tenements, and deafening rhythms have made it onto the page intact.Eric DrookerBerkeley, CA2012

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