BIO
Alexandra Zsigmond is a New York-based art director and curator working at the intersection of fine art, illustration and editorial design.
Her core interest lies in the use of metaphor and symbolism in visual art, as a tool to represent complex ideas and visualize the invisible realms of mind, thought, and emotion. Since writing her honors thesis on visual metaphor at Stanford University in 2004, she has explored this interest through multiple roles and media: as art director, curator, and designer of metaphoric imagery for newspapers, books and exhibitions.
From 2010-17 she was an art director for the New York Times’ Opinion section, commissioning original illustration for articles, curating art-driven features, and designing for both print and digital. She has collaborated with a roster of over 1000 artists worldwide and art directed over 4000 editorial illustrations. She is known for greatly expanding the range of visual contributors to the Times, drawing equally from the worlds of contemporary illustration, fine art, animation, and comics. From 2021-24 she was Senior Art Director at The New Yorker. She currently commissions art for Hammer&Hope magazine, and teaches in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program at SVA in New York.
She is a frequent public speaker and has given talks at universities, conferences, and museums throughout Europe, South America, Canada and the United States. Originally from San Francisco, Alexandra has a background in classical and modern dance, and has worked for a variety of notable art organizations, including Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Cabinet Magazine, Jazz at Lincoln Center and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is open to new collaborations and opportunities, so please get in touch!
CONTACT
EDUCATION
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Stanford, CA, 2000-04
BA, Philosophy and the Visual Arts
PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN
New York, NY, 2007-09
Postgraduate studies, Graphic Design
FELLOWSHIPS
HUMANITIES NEW YORK
Public Scholars Fellow
New York, NY, 2015-17
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS
Art Education Fellow
Washington, DC, 2006
YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Arts for Youth Fellow
San Francisco, 2004
JUDGING
AMERICAN ILLUSTRATION
American Illustration 43, 2024
American Illustration 32, 2013
ART DIRECTOR'S CLUB AWARDS
ADC 102 Illustration Jury, 2023
SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS
Student Scholarships, 2020
Zankel Scholarship, 2016
Comic and Cartoon Art Annual, 2014
Student Scholarships, 2014
Illustrators 55, Advertising, 2013
ASSOCIATION OF ILLUSTRATORS
World Illustration Awards, 2016-17
MOCCA ARTS FESTIVAL
Award of Excellence, 2015
AWARDS
SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS
Richard Gangel Art Director Award
Excellence in Art Direction, 2018
SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS
Gold Medals, Art Direction
Where Have All the Insects Gone?, 2022
The End, 2016
A Conversation at the Edge of Human Perception, 2016
Cancer Monster, 2014
SOCIETY FOR NEWS DESIGN
Award of Excellence, Art Direction
Sunday Review, 2015-17
SOCIETY FOR NEWS DESIGN
Gold Medal, Design
The Year in Pictures, 2015
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Publisher’s Awards, 2012 & 2014
Excellence in Editorial/Opinion
CURATED EXHIBITIONS
FIT TO PRINT
Musée Tomi Ungerer
Strasbourg, France, 2016
DRAWING WITH WORDS
The New York Times’ Gallery 7
New York, NY, 2014
ANXIETY
The New York Times’ Gallery 7
New York, NY, 2013-14