West Liberty University alumnus Jesse Lenz created a cover for the New York Times Magazine, published Jan. 24, 2014, in the online edition, that features Hillary Clinton as a planet. It accompanies an article written by Amy Chozick, political reporter for the New York Times.

The New York Times Magazine article asks the question, “The gravitational pull of a possible 2016 campaign is bringing all the old Clinton characters into her orbit. Can she make the stars align, or will chaos prevail?”

According to the New York Times blog, it is about “Hillary Rodham Clinton’s influence on the various people within her political universe.”

“Jesse could be considered one of the best illustrators in the business right now. We are very proud to call him one of our own,” said Dr. William Baronak, Dean of the College of Arts and Communication.

Lenz has left his mark on the publishing world in other notable ways, including the cover image for Newsweek magazine’s 10th anniversary coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Lenz earned a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design degree in 2010 and has created collage illustrations for a variety of periodicals, including Entertainment Weekly, The Atlantic, Popular Mechanics, New York Times, Readers’ Digest and dozens of other publications.

“We take pride in his professional success. His hard work, talent and WLU education continue to keep his name in the news. We are happy that he stays in touch and supports the University in many ways,” said Director of Alumni Relations Shane Stack.

Lenz describes his work mainly as “digital collage/montage.” His webpage can be found at jesselenz.com.

For more reviews of the controversial cover, please visit the following websites:

• Vanity Fair Daily, Jan. 23, 2014
• Today Tech, Jan. 24, 2014
• The Atlantic, Jan.  23, 2014
• CNN Politics, Jan. 24, 2014

CREDITS: Photo illustration by Jesse Lenz; Hillary Clinton: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images. Black Hole: M. Weiss/NASA. Nebula: M. Livio/ESA/NASA. Dark Matter, Vortex and Supernova: NASA. Cluster: Karel Teuwen. Quasar: ESA/NASA. Comet: ESA.