Jorge Colombo, whose iPhone paintings of various points in New York City have graced numerous New Yorker covers, discusses his new book with 20x200 founder Jen Bekman.

About New York:

If New York City is a state of mind, then Jorge Colombo captures the metropolis' thoughts like no other.

Colombo's beautiful illustrations of New York have graced the cover of The New Yorker several times, brilliantly depicting such icons as silhouetted rooftop water towers, the illuminated Chrysler Building at night, Fifth Avenue in the snow, or the ubiquitous hot dog stand. All of the images were finger painted on location on an iPhone; to passersby, the artist simply appeared to be sending text messages or reading a very long email.

This sophisticated volume presents one hundred of Colombo's best pieces in full color, accompanied by his recollections and commentaries about each location. Every scene is unmistakably New York: familiar, grand, and timeless, yet filtered by modern, cutting-edge technology. Immediately recognizable to native New Yorkers, but also perfect for anyone who admires the Big Apple, this is a monograph of an artist and of a city.

You can view a series of Jorge Colombo's prints on 20x200 or see how he creates these vibrant images on The New Yorker's Finger Painting blog.

Jorge Colombo, a Portuguese-born illustrator, designer, and photographer, has lived in the USA for more than twenty years, and he has been depicting American urban landscape ever since. His lushly rendered scenes are currently finger painted from life, on location, and using an iPhone, bringing the idea of traditional outdoor easel painting into the 21st century. Regularly released as limited edition prints on 20x200, his images have appeared several times on the cover of The New Yorker. His first cover for The New Yorker, in June 2009, was the first time a smartphone-created image made the cover of a magazine. His work was featured in publications such as The New York Times, 7x7, and The Guardian, and shown on Good Morning America, Fox News, and all sorts of international outlets.

Jen Bekman is an art-dealer, curator, writer, and entrepreneur, whose projects include her eponymous Manhattan gallery, the curated limited-edition fine-art print website 20x200, and the international photography competition Hey, Hot Shot!

Christoph Niemann is an illustrator, graphic designer, and author of several books, including I LEGO N.Y. He writes and illustrates The New York Times blog Abstract City.

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