Zodiac Heads
-Ai Weiwei
Company -
Sotheby’s (BORN)
Sotheby’s (BORN)
Credits -
Project Coordinator: Nancy Kaplan
Layout Editor: Uli Monch
Project Coordinator: Nancy Kaplan
Layout Editor: Uli Monch
My Role -
Image Editor
Image Editor
Contemporary Day Cover:
The Contemporary Art Day catalog from November 2019 showcases many masterful examples of painting, photography and sculpture. It is by far my most celebrated book from the 13 years working at Sotheby’s. The cover design was left to my discretion, the company asked me to come up with something dramatic and striking. I used profile shots of the dragon and tiger zodiac statues to create a few mockups and the end result is what you see here.
The Contemporary Art Day catalog from November 2019 showcases many masterful examples of painting, photography and sculpture. It is by far my most celebrated book from the 13 years working at Sotheby’s. The cover design was left to my discretion, the company asked me to come up with something dramatic and striking. I used profile shots of the dragon and tiger zodiac statues to create a few mockups and the end result is what you see here.
Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads, Ai Weiwei:
“Creativity is the power to reject the past, to change the status quo, and to seek new potential.” - Ai Weiwei
“Creativity is the power to reject the past, to change the status quo, and to seek new potential.” - Ai Weiwei
To be consistent with the cover the same sort of drama was needed for the room shot. I adjusted some of the positioning of the statues and their stands and also added/moved some of the lights to create a symmetrical image. Using gradients and curves I made the background dark and theatrical. For the statues, I added saturation and increased brightness to make them shine. Lastly I added subtle reflections underneath. The finished image was used as a fold-out spread in the catalog and featured on the website.
