"100 Years – 100 Objects" at The Design Museum in Munich

I am very pleased to share that my COVID awareness poster "Don't Stop, Keep Going, Be Safe" was chosen to represent the year 2020 in the show "100 Years – 100 Objects" at Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum in Munich, Germany.   

On the occasion of its 100th anniversary, Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum, Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich is presenting an exhibition of 100 objects. These 100 objects reflect the richness and diversity of Die Neue Sammlung. In addition to numerous iconic works, this selection features many unknown treasures that have never before been seen at the Pinakothek der Moderne. This unusual presentation does not follow a traditional chronology, but rather focuses on the time in which the objects came to the museum. Sorting them by acquisition year allows for a new perspective on the museum's collection history. The presentation reflects trends, insights, and influences, allowing for a new examination of the collection and bringing it to life.  

Photos by Gerhardt Kellermann 

 

New A.C.2020

I would like to share with you a new page from my visual essay series, A.C.2020. I originally created this series to express the anxiety and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over time, within the same series, I also began to address my other anxieties and visual observations.

Each visual essay consists of self-contained single-page stories created in greyish-blue tones to reflect the subject.

You can see other comics in the series here.

A.C. 2020 selected winners by American Illustration book

The prestigious American Illustration has announced the selected winners for their AI43 book. I am happy to announce that two of my A.C.2020 comics/visual essays have been selected for inclusion.

I originally created this series to express my anxiety and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over time, I also tried to address my other anxieties and visual observations beyond the pandemic in the series.

Each visual essay comprises self-contained single-page stories created in greyish-blue tones to reflect the subject.

Here is a link to see, among other things, my other A.C.2020 comics.

Daniel Cole's book "End Game"

I just got the first photographs of Daniel Cole's book "End Game", published by China South Booky Culture Media Co., LTD.

For some strange reason (but I am not complaining), the publisher decided to use part of my A.C. 2020 comics on the cover for the Chinese edition of this best seller.

You can see more of my A.C. 2020 comics here.

The Daily Heller: Clearing the COVID Cloud

In today's Daily Heller, Steven Heller is movingly describing his encounter with Covid infection.

"But the most incredible consequence of my particular variant (and I wonder if other sufferers have had the same experience) is that many of my daily disorders, including movement issues and insomnia, simply disappeared. It was as though my system is designed to handle only one major crisis at a time. The fog, while uncomfortable and unknowable, blocked out everything I did not want to deal with, either overtly or covertly. Of course, anyone who is even the slightest bit ill could not care less about fulfilling their daily routines and one-off responsibilities. When the one responsibility you have is fighting and beating the viral enemy and protecting (as best as possible) your family from catching it too, writing Daily Heller columns, meeting deadlines and editing other projects is not as compelling or important."

To illustrate his story, he used two comics from my A.C. 2020 series. "Thanks to Mirko Ilic for generously allowing me to use his AC (After COVID) 2020 comic strips. They are perfect representations of exactly how I was feeling."

 

My Comics in American Illustration 40 Book

For the 40th anniversary American Illustration annual book, the jury selected two of my comics from my visual essay series A.C.2020.

You can see more comics in the series here.

 

A.C.2020.9

Here are a few more pages from my visual essay A.C.2020.

I created this work to express anxiety and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The visual essay is comprised of self contained single page stories.

More here.

 

 

Comic "The Medium is the Massage"

My new comic for the A.C.2020. (After Covid) series. This one is a visual pun on the title of the most famous Marshall McLuhan's book The Medium Is the Massage. 

Why is the book title “The Medium Is the Massage” but not “The Medium Is the Message”? Actually, the title was a mistake. When the book came back from the typesetter, it had “Massage” on the cover as it still does. The title was supposed to be “The Medium Is the Message” but the typesetter had made an error. When Marshall saw the typo he exclaimed, “Leave it alone! It’s great, and right on target!"

Another interesting piece of information about this book is that Quentin Fiore, the designer of the book shared the cover billing with Marshall McLuhan. 

 

Here is the link to a witty post about this comic by Steve Heller in The Daily Heller. 

You can see more of my A.C.2020. comics here.

 

Cover of the first edition of "The Medium Is the Massage".

 

 

Topsy-turvy A.C.2020 comic

 

More comics here.

My A.C.2020 comic inspired by Avenue of the America.

More comics here.

A.C. 2020 comic inspired by Tomaž Pengov

My A.C. 2020 comic inspired by Tomaž Pengov song ′′ In the smile of someday ′′ From the album ′′ Travel ′′ (1973).

V nasmehu nekega dneva V nasmehu nekega dneva, stopiš na svoje križišče, in streseš pesek iz popotnih čevljev. Nekdo te vpraša kam hočeš, ti skriješ utrujene noge, in poveš, da si bil tam. Prijatelji ti odpirajo okna, in ne veš koga si ranil. Tvoja roka nikoli ni prazna, karkoli si storil, v nasmehu nekega dneva, si prinesel, prinesel s seboj. Med glasbo in njeno tišino, med senco in njenim telesom, med žensko in njeno lahko stopinjo, čutiš pot med besedo in molkom, in zemlja na katero si stopil, ti je vzela del potovanja Ko se vrneš, si sam. Ptice so zaprle poletje, in dež je ustavil ceste. Nad praznim vrčem prsti napnejo strune, in spomin ti verjame. V tišini pretrgaš zaveso, in stopiš, pred drevo, ki si ga posadil, v nasmehu nekega dneva, da odlomiš vejo, za na pot. In the smile of someday In the smile of someday, you set foot upon your crossroad, and shake the sand from your traveling shoes. Somebody asks you where you wish to go, you hide your tired legs, and tell them, you have been there. Friends open their windows to you, and you know not who you have wounded. Your hand never empty, and whatever you have done, in the smile of someday, you have brought, brought with yourself. Between music and its silence, between a shadow and its body, between a woman and her light footprint, you feel the path between word and silence, and the ground on which you tread, has taken from you a part of your journey, when you return, you are alone. The birds have brought summer to end, and rain has halted all roads, Above an empty jug your fingers draw the strings, your memory believes you. You tear apart the curtain in silence, and step, before the very tree you have planted, in the smile of someday, and break off a branch, for your journey.

More comics here.

A.C.2020.5

Here is the fifth part of my visual essay A.C.2020. I created them to express the anxiety and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The visual essay is comprised of self-contained single-page stories.

The first page is my take on Winsor McKay's Little Nemo in Slumberland. As Steven Heller eloquently put in his The Daily Heller blog: "Throughout the pandemic, Mirko Ilic has evoked his own emotional spectrum (light to dark) through a continuous series of sequential images... 'Little Mirko in COVID Land,' so clearly expresses the common angst—a universal feeling of, at once, isolation, separation, lamentation, liberation and, now, the undefinably discomfiting excitation of being released back into a (hopefully) COVID-free world."

The second page is about the deserted Lincoln Center in New York City which evokes association to Giorgio de Chirico's painting.

You can see more high-res images of this comic series here.

A.C.2020.4

Page from my a visual essay A.C.2020. I created this to express anxiety and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.

 

In 1918 Egon Schiele died from the Spanish Flu pandemic. He was 28 years old.

"Sometime in mid-October, Egon Schiele’s wife, Edith falls ill with the flu. She is 6 months pregnant and despite the desperate care from her husband Egon, she succumbs to the flu on October 28. Three days later, on October 31, Egon Schiele followed his wife and unborn child into the after world in the early hours of the day."

This comic is based exclusively on the photos of Egon before and after his death.

More here.

 

 

A.C.2020.3

Page from my a visual essay A.C.2020.

I created this to express anxiety and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.

 

More here.

 

 

 

 

A.C.2020.2

One more page from my a visual essay A.C.2020.

I created this to express anxiety and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.

More here.

 

 

A.C.2020

Here is a one of my pages from a visual essay A.C.2020.

I created this to express anxiety and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. More here.

Graphic Distancing A.C.2020

Here are a few pages from a visual essay A.C.2020. I created this work to express anxiety and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. The visual essay is comprised of self contained single page stories.

More about here.