The second of the three-part “Annual Exhibition: Illustrators 52,” the Book and Editorial Exhibit was held at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators January 27 to February 20, 2010. It featured works by leading contemporary illustrators worldwide, selected by a prestigious jury of professionals.

The Book category consists of illustrations used inside or for covers of books, including hardback and paperback books, children’s books and young adult literature, and single-image comic book art. This year, 111 images were selected from 819 submissions in this category.

A Gold Medal went to Yuko Shimizu for The Beautiful and the Grotesque- Ryunosuke Akutagawa Selected Short Stories, and Silver Medals went to Mike Benny for The Listeners Cover, Tatsuro Kiuchi for Rain Po Po Po and Guido Scarabottolo for A Week at the Airport.

The Editorial category consists of work commissioned by newspapers or magazines, medical and scientific journals or online magazines. From the 1,152 entries in this category, 86 were chosen this year.

Gold Medals were awarded to Julia Breckenreid for Double Life, Bill Mayer for Queen of Swords and Brian Stauffer for Infighting Police. Silver Medals went to Marc Burckhardt for Whitewash, John Cuneo for Insertion Technique and Victor Juhasz for Wall Street’s Naked Swindle-Hyenas.

Medals were presented to award winners during the Awards Ceremony at the Opening Reception on February 5th at the Society of Illustrators.

Among the many other artists featured in the exhibit were Anna and Elena Balbusso, Guy Billout, Steve Brodner, Philip Burke, Peter de Sève, Vivienne Flesher, Alessandro Gottardo, Gary Kelley, John Jude Palencar, Hanoch Piven, Edel Rodriguez and Sam Weber.
“Now in its 52nd year, the Annual Exhibition is the premier international showcase for illustrators,” said Anelle Miller, Director of the Society of Illustrators. “We’re honored to host this remarkable event, which celebrates the most outstanding illustrative works created by our colleagues in the past year.”