litro.co.uk

Issue 100: Cover Art

Cover art is taken from Stephen Farling’s ‘Boucher: the back story’, currently showing at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 10 November – 19 December 2010. For more details on the exhibition, please see www.royalacademy.co.uk.

This cover was used for the November 2010 issue of Litro, marking the 100th  issue of the magazine.

This month’s Litro cover artist is Gillian Ayres, one of many talented artists exhibiting at the annual Royal Academy Summer Exhibition now in its 242nd year. Click here on to find out how to become a Friend of Litro and be entered into our competition to win one of 5 pairs of tickets to this year’s Summer Exhibition.

Gillian Ayres studied at the Camberwell School of Art. After leaving in 1950, she began to paint abstracts, with her first solo exhibition being held in the mid-1950s. Ayres was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 1989. In 1986 she was made an OBE and in 1991 become a Royal Academician.

Ayres’ early works were typically made with thin vinyl paint making up relatively simply forms from a limited colour palate, but later oil painted works are much more colourful and exuberant, as seen above in this month’s cover  art.

Cover art by Johan Andersson. Andersson has exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery as the youngest person ever to be shortlisted for the BP Portrait Award (3rd prize) and was part of the Jerwood Contemporary Painters prize in 2008. He also recently exhibited in the V&A museum. Andersson’s work resonates with many contemporary and socially complex issues. He has already successfully exhibited alongside Anish Kapoor, Sarah Lucas & Howard Hodgkin in the acclaimed Follow Your Art exhibition in aid of Assisting ‘Victims of Torture’ (hosted at the Royal Institution). Visit johanandersson.com.

Cover art by IZima Kaoru. Kaoru, renowned fashion photographer, collaborates with famous Japanese actresses to stage elaborate death scenes that remind us how variously the world’s cultures handle the subjects of beauty and death. Kaoru’s narratives, which are generally suggested by the subject herself, present a heroine who is perfect in her demise. Clothed in Yohji Yamamoto or Jil Sander, the young beauty is captured from multiple viewpoints – each an elegant composition based on the figure in a landscape.

Izima Kaoru was born in Kyoto in 1954; he lives and works in Tokyo. He began his career as a fashion photographer and has contributed to numerous international magazines. He is the founder and editor in chief of the magazine zyappu. Visit escapeintolife.com/artist-watch/izima-kaoru/.