Montana Forbes’ striking illustrations are a celebration of the female form. With simple lines and flat blocks of colour or monochrome tones, this body of work documents the perception of today’s women in western society. Hugely influenced by images of popular culture and all things vintage, whether fashion shoots from the seventies, or the innovative record covers from the 1980’s, Forbes draws the women in poses similar to those taken by models in a magazine. The artist’s objective is simplicity with attention to line and form, and her distinctive use of bright colours comes from travelling a lot between the USA, Southern Africa and the U.K whilst growing up.
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Forbes was a resident illustrator for The Sunday Times’ weekly ‘Style’ Magazine for four years between 2005 and 2009, and subsequently two of the works shown here: Seasons and Autumn have been featured in the magazine. These works are more than just a drawing to illustrate a newspaper article however - they are powerful and dominant artworks; perhaps suggesting Forbes’ own perception of ‘the fairer sex’. Forbes’ work has been used in advertising campaigns by many high end clients worldwide, including Filofax, Gap, New York Time-Out and Random House publishers. Forbes has a BA in Graphic Design and currently lives and works in London.