Leanne Shapton is a Canadian author, artist, graphic novelist and publisher living in New York City with her daughter. She is the art editor at The New York Review of Books and co-founder of J&L Books, a non-profit publisher specializing in art and photography. Shapton’s first work, Was She Pretty?, was a nominee for the Doug Wright Award in 2007. Her second book, Important Artifacts and Personal Property From the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry, was optioned by Plan B/Paramount in 2009 with Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman attached to star. Shapton’s book Swimming Studies won the 2012 National Book Critic’s Circle Award for autobiography and was long-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2012. She is a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

“I was delighted to be asked to make a poster for the 49th Festival. Some of my favorite artists have done one, and I think my favorite is by the incredible production designer Dean Tavoularis,” remarks Shapton. “I was in the middle of a book cover assignment when Julie Huntsinger asked, and leapt at the instruction to include the word SHOW. I love hand-painted letterforms and the strength single words can have and how they name, and so wrote out the word about twenty-five times in my favorite green.”

“If a breath of fresh air could be conveyed in an image, this is what Leanne has accomplished in our beautiful poster for TFF 49,” comments Festival executive director Julie Huntsinger. “Without even indicating that this was the hoped-for point of view, she delivered our sentiment for this year. Leanne has conjured an elegance that is neither fussy nor contrived, not unlike the very best films. We’re thrilled to introduce her gorgeous work to our SHOW community and the world.”

Posters are an annual tradition of the Festival, and Shapton joins a prestigious list of artists who have been selected by, and who have shared their talents with Telluride Film Festival. Past poster artists include Yann Legendre, Laurent Durieux, Christian Marclay, Dean Tavoularis, Ed Ruscha, John Mansfield, Julian Schnabel, Dottie Attie, Doug and Mike Starn, David Lance Goines, Chuck Jones, David Salle, Alexis Smith, Jim Dine, Seymour Chwast, Frederic Amat, Francesco Clemente, Dave McKean, Gary Larson, Chip Kidd, John Canemaker, Mark Stock, Laurie Anderson, William Wegman, Ralph Eggleston, Maira Kalman, Dave Eggers, Lance Rutter, Edwina White and Luke Dorman.

49th Telluride Film Festival posters are available for purchase via our online TFF Shop here.