As I anticipated the release of Rihanna’s new soon to be release album, Anti, I came across a very intriguing artist named Roy Nachum. He is the artist behind the album cover of this upcoming album, and I was very stunned by actual artwork placed on an album cover. Word on the street is that Rihanna was in an apartment owned by the very famous couple, Jay-z and Beyonce, and some of Nachum’s work was hanging on their wall, which is caused Rihanna to reach out to the artist so that he may design her album cover.

He is an artist born in Jerusalem but went to Copper Union School of Art in New York City where he currently resides. He is classified as a painter, sculptor and an installation artist. He is known to want his audience to also touch his work. He experimented with braille and now it is apart of his aesthetic. He wishes to communicate to not only through sight but also through hearing and touching. He deals with human perception and his work seeks to open people’s eyes. “The whole idea behind the braille is that people who have sight are sometimes the people who are blindest,” Rihanna.

I was really intrigued by the use of color. It was like a new take on regality and monarchy–a more modern simple way of conveying royalty. But that is not his focus. In the piece “If They Let Us”, he talks about his work not in regard to regality but liberation. This piece is Rihanna’s album cover and he depicted her as a child holding a balloon to represent the freedom a child feels–the freedom of a balloon filled with helium air.

 If They Let Us

sources:

Rihanna Enlists Artist Roy Nachum to Design a Bizarre Braille Album Cover

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Nachum

https://www.roynachum.com