Like illustrator Edel Rodriguez, over the past four years John Mavroudis has turned in striking editorial covers that serve as defining images of the Trump era. His latest piece for TIME—the first time since September 2001 that the magazine has featured a black border arounds its cover—is no exception.
The cover is a sober, human depiction of the catastrophic COVID-19 death toll—explored within TIME’s cover story, “An American Failure.” Mavroudis’ concluding ellipses serves as a stark reminder of what will only continue in the absence of true leadership at the highest levels.
As the artist writes:
“This is a slow, steady march of death … with little flash or pizazz to rivet the attention of the viewer, so we just keep trudging on, accepting this TRUE American carnage.
“How many more before we finally wake up?”
Here’s a look at the cover, alongside some of Mavroudis’ other recent works at the intersection of text and image.
