ZOHAR LAZAR was born in Israel in
1971 and moved to New York in the ’80s.
He uses a range of media, from traditional
oil painting to ink wash, and also makes
comics. His work is exhibited in galleries
and appears in many publications, as
well as on his blog and on the Meathaus
website. He contributed artwork for a
number of releases by the band They
Might Be Giants, including “The Spine,”
“Prevenge,” “Experimental Film,” and
“Au Contraire” singles. Lazar did one
New Yorker cover, in 2009. For him,
it was “much better than doing a New
Yorker cover exercise in art school.”

R. J. MATSON was born in 1963 in
Chicago and raised in Brussels, Belgium,
and Minneapolis. He currently resides in
St. Louis. His work is published in the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch six days a week
and in Roll Call four days a week. One of
his works was named TIME’s best edito-
rial cartoon of the year in 2007. Matson
did one New Yorker cover, in 2000, titled
“Six More Weeks of Primaries.” For him,
doing covers for The New Yorker is “a
childhood dream fulfilled.”

JOHN MAVROUDIS was born in
1962 in California, where he still lives.
He’s the art director of the California
Film Institute. As an artist and designer,
he created over two dozen posters for
the legendary Fillmore poster series. He
cocreated (with Owen Smith) one New
Yorker cover, in 2006, showing tight-
rope artist Philippe Petit high above the
footprint of the World Trade Center. It
was named cover of the year by ASME
and one of the ten best covers of the year
by Advertising Age. For him, “having The
New Yorker as your canvas means reach-
ing the pinnacle of illustration.”

JACQUES DE LOUSTAL, born in
1956, is a cartoonist and illustrator who
lives in Paris. His extensive traveling
through Africa, South America, and Asia
is reflected in his many books of travel
sketches. He began doing comics in the
late 1970s, publishing in magazines such
as Metal Hurlant, Rock and Folk, and À
Suivre in France, and RAW in the U.S.
He has done eight covers for The New
Yorker, the first one in 1993. For Loustal,
doing covers for The New Yorker is “the
grail for an illustrator—any illustration is
better with the New Yorker logo on top.”

LORENZO MATTOTTI was born
in Italy in 1954, and currently lives in
Paris. He is a comics artist and illustra-
tor who contributes to Vogue, Le Monde,
and Vanity (Italy). He has written and
illustrated many graphic novels, includ-
ing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, for which he
received the Eisner Award in 2003. Since
1993, he has done twenty-six covers for
The New Yorker. For him, doing covers
for The New Yorker is “a game of chance,
but it’s worth it.”

RICHARD MC GUIRE is a renowned
musician, designer, animator, and
cartoonist, as well as an author of both
children’s books and experimental com-
ics. His work appears in a wide variety
of publications, including The New
York Times, McSweeney’s, Le Monde, and
Libération. He has designed and directed
animated films. He’s the founder and
bass player of the punk-funk band
Liquid Liquid. He recently cowrote
and directed the closing piece of the
French animated feature film Fear(s) of
the Dark. Since 1993, McGuire has done
sixteen covers for The New Yorker. For
him, doing covers for The New Yorker is
“a warm puppy.”

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