Culture

Flemish illustrator Jan Van Der Veken drew the cover to the December 7, 2009 issue of The New Yorker.

Jan Van Der Veken was born in Ghent, Belgium, April 10th, 1975 and has still been residing there.

He graduated in 1999 from St-Lucas Art Institute where he studied graphic design and typography. But his main interest went to illustration. So he took lessons in the class of Ever Meulen.

After his graduation he immediately settled himself as an independent artist which is what he has been doing for almost three years now. In fact his design company is called FABRICA GRAFICA.

In his work he goes back to the Atomstyle, a trend that was popular in the 1950s (think the World Exhibition of 1958 in Brussels). The positive attitude towards technology and the unlimited possibilities in the future of that era is reflected in all of his works.

Other inspiration sources are his travel books that he keeps when he is abroad. This combination of technology and exoticism influences his illustrations, and his use of color gives his work a retro-effect, as if his work is drifting between the future and the past.

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