Ian Wright

Wright’s work as a commercial illustrator has spanned four decades, starting with his illustrative cover of The Undertones’ Teenage Kicks 7” single in the late 1970s, progressing with his illustrative artwork in The Face magazine in their 1980s heyday (which was the perfect outlet for his artwork combining cutting edge elements of fashion, style and music) and his famous weekly black and white portraits for the New Musical Express (NME). Mr. Wright’s subsequent work has involved collaboration with many famous names. His illustrative career has included working on projects for such famous, and diverse, names as Issey Miyake, Givenchy, Mike Tyson, Björk, Ian Brown, Pete Townshend, Tony Bennett, T.I. and many others.

Ian Wright’s creative approach to illustration has resulted in a fresh and constant updating of his work into new creative directions, including testing new developments in technology and mixing up techniques and materials, whilst creating unique artistic visions. His work today expands upon his early illustrations while maintaining the integrity of his early investigations.

Wright’s illustrative artwork has been exhibited internationally, including in London at the Design Museum (2007), the Exposure Gallery (2007), the Cosh Gallery (2007), Rosemary Gardens (2005), and Pentagram Gallery (2005); in New York at the Reed Space (2006), Times Square (2006), Mass Production at The Christopher Henry Gallery (NYC) (2006), and Issey Miyake (2002); in Hong Kong at Agnes B Libarie Gallery (2007) and the Hong Kong Center Wanchai (2005); and in the Czech Republic at the 22nd International Biennale of Graphic Design (2006), among others.

An early portrait of Grandmaster Flash was made entirely with salt to replicate cocaine as a reference to the seminal rap track, ‘White Lines.’ He adopted photocopiers at an early stage creating illustrative images by changing single color toners within the machine to mimic the screen print process; building layers of color from separate artworks into one final image. His portraits and illustrative artwork for record sleeves and the music press have allowed Mr. Wright the luxury to slip effortlessly between the analogue and the digital.

His commercial clients have included such highly recognizable names as The New Yorker, Sunday Times Magazine, New Scientist, The Observer, The Guardian, Creative Design, Screen International, Campaign Magazine, The London Evening Standard Magazine, Fader, XLR8R, The Art Book 2003, The Independent on Sunday and many others.

Born in England in 1953, Ian Wright studied at Goldsmith’s College in London (1974–1975) and received a bachelor's degree in graphic design from the London College of Printing (1975–1978). Following his degree studies, he became assistant to George Hardie (1978–1979) and then shared a studio with designer Neville Brody at The Face magazine (1979–1981 and 1990–1996). In 1981, Ian Wright set up his own studio.