W Flashback: Richard Prince’s 2007 Art Issue, Featuring Paparazzi Photographs

Ever since W launched its annual Art Issue in 2006, nearly every artist tapped to showcase their vision through the cover has worked directly with a celebrity, from Mickalene Thomas transforming Cardi B into a number of glamor queens from a bygone Hollywood era to Yayoi Kusama covering George Clooney in polka dots. The second-ever Art Issue (2007) was conceived of by the artist Richard Prince (who has returned for the 2019 edition, as well). Both then and now, he has tampered with in-the-moment , celebrity-saturated media ephemera. In 2007, it was all about paparazzi imagery. Prince decided on a number of high-profile names from that year, including Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears. Prince simply downloaded their widely seen images, then appropriated the photos with hand-scribbled messages dedicated to himself. One example: “Hey Richard, Shine on!, Angelina Jolie.” See what his commentary on celebrity culture looked like in the days before Instagram—which he used for the 2019 Art Issue cover, starring Kate Moss—with his 2007 Art Issue covers, here.