View From the Top > On the Cover



Departure, Vladimir Zimakov, digitally manipulated illustration and collage, 2003

Russian-born artist and illustrator Vladimir Zimakov emigrated to the United States with his family in 1991. In 2000, Zimakov graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute with a bfa in graphic design and illustration. Since that time he has been working as a director at the Museum of the Imagination, in Hudson, and interning at the Institute of the Philosophy and Psychology of Art in Claverack, as a research assistant.
Zimakov works as a freelance illustrator and has exhibited work at Elizabeth State Thomas Gallery (Dallas, TX), Mimi Ferzt Gallery (New York, NY), Skybox Gallery (Kingston, NY), and Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas, TX).

Zimakov created this month’s cover image specifically for Chronogram. He describes the process of creating the cover: The cover drawing of the gigantic flies was most likely (subconsciously) inspired by one of my favorite authors, Franz Kafka, and one of my favorite artists, J J Grandville. It incorporates two phobias: one of falling from heights and another of monster flies. I tried to create an uncertain dreamlike narrative with strong graphic elements. An illustration that would stand on its own. The drawing was then collaged onto a piece of cardboard and construction paper. I decided to break the Chronogram logo in half and to give it a letterpress quality so it would work with the drawing and the background, and challenge the traditional cover layout.

Zimakov’s drawings and design work can be viewed at www.zimakov.itgo.com.