“Ibiza, where Missy Rayder is shot here, is so close to home and was kind of our playground for many years. It has light, you’re not restricted with weather and don’t need to have permits months or weeks before or know exactly what time of day or where we were going to be. It was a place where you could be free and be naked and run around.”
—Mert & Marcus
Measuring two metres high, this unique-sized, one-off print of Missy Running was made exclusively in 2016 to mark the 20th anniversary of the collaboration of the dynamic artist duo Mert Alas (b.1971) and Marcus Piggott (b.1971), known as Mert & Marcus. Selected by the artists as a key work that epitomised their black-and-white imagery of powerful women or ‘women with a meaning’ as noted by Mert, Missy Running first appeared in the editorial ‘Physical’ in the 2005 Autumn/Winter issue of Pop magazine.
Considered two of the most successful fashion photographers working today, Mert & Marcus initially met in London in 1994 amid the vibrant 90s club scene. Due to their shared love of photography and art, they quickly established a creative partnership. Their cover of Dazed & Confused in 1997 was the duo’s first collaborative success, and since then, their alluring images have been featured globally in magazines, including Interview, LOVE, Vanity Fair, Vogue and W, as well as in advertising campaigns for Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy, Gucci, Lancôme, Louis Vuitton, Versace and Saint Laurent, among others. Additionally, their work has been exhibited internationally at the V&A, London; the National Portrait Gallery, London; and the New York Public Library.
