"A.C. 2020" in the Java Gallery in Sarajevo,

On Friday, May 22, organized by the "POPUP!2026" festival in the Java Gallery in Sarajevo, was the opening of the exhibition of pages from my visual essay "A.C. 2020".

"Poster Thinking"

I am pleased to let you know that yesterday, I received this booklet from Spain titled Poster Thinking by Sonia and Gabriel Freeman, aka Sonia Díaz y Gabriel Martínez

The two head the visual activist group Un Mundo Feliz. UMF (A Brave New World) is a collective of designers interested in the creation, production, and distribution of committed images, both socially and politically.

The booklet is for the design school Artediez and uses work from some of the leading designers around the world, including mine, to discuss the importance of posters as a medium for information, not just as an art piece.

They also included a quote by me, although I’m not exactly sure when I said this:

“Content is very important to me. I am not particularly interested in pure design; I find it a bit boring. I have always felt that my design needs to push back against something. That is probably because of where I grew up. [...] Designers must have a logical explanation for their work. [...] I am not only a visual artist but also a designer. One aspect of that profession is information. The poster, as an informational device, must operate on two levels of information. The poster must convey the first level of visual information within four or five seconds. That is roughly the amount of time it takes for a person to walk past it. If that initial level of information succeeds, the person will stop—and perhaps look at and read the additional information.”

 

 

"Mirko Ilić: The Cuts"

I am pleased to let you know that on April 24th I hosted the “second opening” and a conversation about “Mirko Ilić: The Cuts,” a show of my illustrations and comics at the Cultural Centre of the Old Royal Capital Cetinje in Montenegro.

The show was organised by the FLUID Design Forum and curated by Ana Matić & Srdja Dragovic.

 
“The exhibition ‘The Cuts’ presents a carefully composed cross-section of the comic and illustration work of Mirko Ilić, bringing into direct dialogue works created within the context of Yugoslav, European, and American print media of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s with his most recent comic series A.C. 2020, developed at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic became an inescapable frame of everyday life. This is not a retrospective in the conventional sense, but a considered cut — an attempt to trace, through temporal and aesthetic shifts, the continuity of an exceptionally consistent yet never fixed authorial line.”

 

 

FLUID, Prologue–Theatre Posters Show

I am pleased to inform you that on April 24th,  FLUID Design Forum was opening “Mirko Ilić: Prologue,” an exhibition at the FLUID Expo featuring my theater posters from the JDP-Yugoslav Drama Theatre. The show is located at Cetinje, FLU Cetinje, Galerija A0, and will run from, April 24th, to May 24th, 2026.

'If a theater performance represents a director’s explication of a given theme and dramatic text, then the theater poster can be seen as an interpretation of that same theme, the dramatic text, and the director’s and actors’ interpretation itself. Therefore, we have chosen a theatrical term for the title of the exhibition, which guides us into the plot and introduces us to the theme and characters. As with a prologue, through the design of these posters, Mirko Ilić acts as a storyteller, providing a unique visual introduction that prepares us for the story that follows.

 
For nine seasons, he has been designing posters for performances at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre. Each season is stylistically distinct, and each poster is a “prologue” in its own right; and yet, they all form a cohesive whole that showcases a diversity of expression, clear, consistent authorial vision, skillfully blending illustration and typography. This exhibition is an opportunity to see most of them in one place.’

 

 

American Illustration 45 Annual

 I am excited to let you know that two of my illustrations were selected to appear in the prestigious American Illustration 45 annual. From 6,387 entries, the jury selected just 432 images.

Many thanks to Mark Helfin and the American Illustration 45 jury.

One pictured above, is my poster illustration for the play Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, created for JDP-Yugoslav Drama Theater in Belgrade, Serbia.

The other pictured below, is my poster illustration for the play Eldorado by Marius von Mayenburg, also created for JDP-Yugoslav Drama Theater.

The Cuts Open Now

I am pleased to let you know that today is the opening of “Mirko Ilić: The Cuts,” a show of my illustrations and comics at the Cultural Centre of the Old Royal Capital Cetinje in Montenegro.

The show is hosted by the Fluid Design Forum and curated by Ana Matić & Srđa Dragović. The exhibition will be open until May 8th.

“The exhibition The Cuts presents a carefully composed cross-section of the comic and illustration work of Mirko Ilić, bringing into direct dialogue works created within the context of Yugoslav, European, and American print media of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s with his most recent comic series A.C. 2020, developed at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic became an inescapable frame of everyday life. This is not a retrospective in the conventional sense, but a considered cut — an attempt to trace, through temporal and aesthetic shifts, the continuity of an exceptionally consistent yet never fixed authorial line.”

 

 

Silence=Death at Poster House

Poster House’s new exhibition, “Love & Fury: New York’s Fight Against AIDS,” is now open until September 6th, 2026. The exhibition explores how graphic design shaped New York’s grassroots response to AIDS from 1979 to 2003. Public health campaigns, agitprop, benefit flyers, and club handbills offer more than messages—they map how communities built survival systems from below, often before the state would act.
 

The show features a poster that I donated to Poster House, titled “Silence=Death” by a collective of six gay New Yorkers.  I also donated copies of this poster to the NewYork MOMA and SFMOMA collections.