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Jason Polan
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Jason Polan
Jason Daniel Polan (July 17, 1982 – January 27, 2020) was an American artist based in New York City. He was best known for his project Every Person in New York, in which he attempted to draw every individual in the city. By the time of his death at age 37, he had completed more than 50,000 portraits.
Polan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He studied both anthropology and art and design at the University of Michigan, graduating in 2004. While in Ann Arbor, he painted the "Ant Alley" mural on Maynard Street. After graduating, he moved to New York City, where he lived for the rest of his life.
Polan's work appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Believer, Apartamento, Metropolis, Lucky Peach, and McSweeney's Quarterly Concern. He collaborated with institutions and companies such as Warby Parker, Uniqlo, The Criterion Collection, Levi's, Russ & Daughters, Partners & Spade, the Whitney Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Ford Foundation.
He created more than 100 artist books and zines, dozens of which are held in the Museum of Modern Art's library collection.
In 2005, he founded the Taco Bell Drawing Club, a weekly gathering at the Union Square Taco Bell in New York City where artists and enthusiasts met to draw. Explaining the club in The New Yorker, he said: "There are no rules. I often draw people, but you can draw whatever you want."
In 2019, he created the variant cover for Marvel's The Amazing Spider-Man #20. In 2025, The Post Office, a volume compiling Polan's preserved letters, artist correspondence, cards, and other ephemera, edited by Jason Fulford, was published by Printed Matter, Inc.
Launched in March 2008, Every Person in New York was Polan's most ambitious project. He aimed to sketch every person in the city, often drawing in public spaces such as subway stations, museums, and street corners. In 2015, the project was published as a book, and by his death in 2020, he had completed more than 50,000 portraits.
A second volume, edited by Hans Seeger, was published posthumously in 2021. Writing about the book in The New York Times, Sadie Stein observed:
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Jason Polan
Jason Daniel Polan (July 17, 1982 – January 27, 2020) was an American artist based in New York City. He was best known for his project Every Person in New York, in which he attempted to draw every individual in the city. By the time of his death at age 37, he had completed more than 50,000 portraits.
Polan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He studied both anthropology and art and design at the University of Michigan, graduating in 2004. While in Ann Arbor, he painted the "Ant Alley" mural on Maynard Street. After graduating, he moved to New York City, where he lived for the rest of his life.
Polan's work appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Believer, Apartamento, Metropolis, Lucky Peach, and McSweeney's Quarterly Concern. He collaborated with institutions and companies such as Warby Parker, Uniqlo, The Criterion Collection, Levi's, Russ & Daughters, Partners & Spade, the Whitney Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Ford Foundation.
He created more than 100 artist books and zines, dozens of which are held in the Museum of Modern Art's library collection.
In 2005, he founded the Taco Bell Drawing Club, a weekly gathering at the Union Square Taco Bell in New York City where artists and enthusiasts met to draw. Explaining the club in The New Yorker, he said: "There are no rules. I often draw people, but you can draw whatever you want."
In 2019, he created the variant cover for Marvel's The Amazing Spider-Man #20. In 2025, The Post Office, a volume compiling Polan's preserved letters, artist correspondence, cards, and other ephemera, edited by Jason Fulford, was published by Printed Matter, Inc.
Launched in March 2008, Every Person in New York was Polan's most ambitious project. He aimed to sketch every person in the city, often drawing in public spaces such as subway stations, museums, and street corners. In 2015, the project was published as a book, and by his death in 2020, he had completed more than 50,000 portraits.
A second volume, edited by Hans Seeger, was published posthumously in 2021. Writing about the book in The New York Times, Sadie Stein observed: