Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Conversation begins at 11:55
Legendary artist and illustrator James McMullan (https://www.jamesmcmullan.com) joins the show to celebrate his new book, HELLO WORLD: The Body Speaks in the Drawings of Men (Pointed Leaf Press, bookshop.org/a/4669/9781938461491). We talk about James' three-plus decades of posters for Lincoln Center Theater (https://www.lct.org), the importance of the human figure in his art, how drawing with color opened a more expressive channel for him, and why Hello World is his most personal project (even more than his memoir (jamesmcmullan.com/leaving-china)). We get into the intersection of illustration & fine art and whether he resented being overlooked by the museum set, the experience of making more than 90 (!) posters for Lincoln Center Theater (jamesmcmullan.com/theater-posters) over the decades and helping define NYC theater (despite being neither "a New York guy" nor a hardcore theater-goer), how he makes his art in a perpetual state of risk and being willing to let that risk show, the ways his literary reading feeds his art and vice versa, and how he invested $11,000 in a supply of his favorite paper a dozen years ago and how it feels to reach the last of it. Plus, we discuss his High Focus Drawing approach (bookshop.org/a/4669/9781635616828), the gestalt between model and artist, how it felt to be a 'sissy kid' who found power in art, why he shows feet when everyone else is focused on the intimacy of close-up faces, and a lot more. More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-526-james-mcmullan • Support The Virtual Memories Show via patreon.com/vmspod and via our Substack, vmspod.substack.com
Conversation begins at 11:55
Legendary artist and illustrator James McMullan (https://www.jamesmcmullan.com) joins the show to celebrate his new book, HELLO WORLD: The Body Speaks in the Drawings of Men (Pointed Leaf Press, bookshop.org/a/4669/9781938461491). We talk about James' three-plus decades of posters for Lincoln Center Theater (https://www.lct.org), the importance of the human figure in his art, how drawing with color opened a more expressive channel for him, and why Hello World is his most personal project (even more than his memoir (jamesmcmullan.com/leaving-china)). We get into the intersection of illustration & fine art and whether he resented being overlooked by the museum set, the experience of making more than 90 (!) posters for Lincoln Center Theater (jamesmcmullan.com/theater-posters) over the decades and helping define NYC theater (despite being neither "a New York guy" nor a hardcore theater-goer), how he makes his art in a perpetual state of risk and being willing to let that risk show, the ways his literary reading feeds his art and vice versa, and how he invested $11,000 in a supply of his favorite paper a dozen years ago and how it feels to reach the last of it. Plus, we discuss his High Focus Drawing approach (bookshop.org/a/4669/9781635616828), the gestalt between model and artist, how it felt to be a 'sissy kid' who found power in art, why he shows feet when everyone else is focused on the intimacy of close-up faces, and a lot more. More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-526-james-mcmullan • Support The Virtual Memories Show via patreon.com/vmspod and via our Substack, vmspod.substack.com
