Acclaimed street artist My Dog Sighs designs exclusive cover and guest edits Big Issue art special

A special art-themed edition of The Big Issue goes on sale this week, with a cover exclusively designed by celebrated street artist My Dog Sighs. One of My Dog Sighs’ iconic glassy reflective eyes, the work titles Reclaiming the Lost reflects the focus of the edition.

My Dog Sighs has also curated a special series of articles exploring how art can reclaim the lost, whether that’s entire rundown areas or discarded objects.

An exhibition, opening on Thursday this week, will display some of the artist’s work at Jealous Gallery, with a limited-edition print created for the special collaboration on sale, with proceeds going to The Big Issue.

My Dog Sighs said: “I’m very excited to announce that I have partnered up with The Big issue to guest edit a very special Art Edition of the magazine and to produce a very limited fine art print with Jealous Gallery as a fundraiser.

“When The Big issue approached me to guest edit this special Art Edition, I instantly saw the parallels with my creative endeavours and their ethos of helping those struggling and lost to work themselves to a position where they can find themselves and their place/purpose.

“As I delved deeper, choosing features for the magazine, I discovered other artists, creative thinkers, explorers, musicians and projects that are re-imagining the lost and turning it into something of value and purpose. It’s an incredible honour to be invited and I’m extremely proud of the magazine we’ve put together.

“Alongside the print, I’m proud to be showing a new body of work inspired by my collaboration with Big Issue. For this series, I chose, in each reflection, a different unidentified person. Half are friends, family and loved ones and the other half Big Issue sellers.

“It doesn’t matter where we are in life, right now, we’re all only a few pay checks or a life impacting event away from needing the support of organisations such as The Big Issue and I wanted this edition to democratise these people through a shared visual aesthetic.”

Deputy editor of The Big Issue, Steven MacKenzie, added: “Every edition we put together is a masterpiece, of course, but this one a little more so. Art encourages us to take a fresh look at the familiar. It can reconcile us with our history, illuminate the present and show the way to a more positive future.

“So thanks to My Dog Sighs and our team of vendors for transforming the selling of a magazine into mini art installations across the streets of Britain this week. What will people see as they look at the cover; what will the cover see when it looks back?”

The limited-edition prints will be available for purchase at Jealous Gallery for £495, with all profits going to The Big Issue.

To further support the organisation, My Dog Sighs has brought in some of the featured artists from the Special Edition, including Rone, Rust Bucket Workshop, Junker Jane and SNIK, to exhibit their work. A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of these artworks will also go towards The Big Issue.

The exhibition, titled ‘Reclaiming the Lost’, will open at Jealous Gallery, 53 Curtain Road, Shoreditch on Thursday, July 13th, and will run until Saturday 22nd July.

Please go out and buy a copy of the special Art Edition from your local Big Issue vendor, on sale from Monday 10 July. You can find your nearest vendor here. Throughout the week we will be sharing more stories from creatives, explorers and activists who are reclaiming the lost. Read those stories here.