The May 2026 Artforum Ad was conceived in the Spring of 2025. Boyd created the painting, "A Portrait of Two Friends." specifically for the advertisement. The painting consists of four wood panels painted with bole (clay) and then water-gilded and etched. After the artwork was created, the artwork needed to be altered to run in the magazine, in which Boyd created the "redacted" versions. Here is the original version, with the version which ran in the publication and other alternatives.