"Daily Heller" Rijeka

I am pleased to let you know that on October 2nd, Steven Heller, in his prestigious Print Magazine blog “Daily Heller” wrote about a show of my work in Rijeka, Croatia.

'The exhibition “represents a fresh reading of the oeuvre of the prominent artist,” say curators Marko Golub and Sabina Salaman in the show’s bilingual catalog, noting that it “connects in intriguing ways the works of graphic design, illustration and comics created between the late 1970s and the present day. … The thread running through the thematic units and numerous thematic chapters is aimed at the idea of time that is manifested in many of the artist’s work in a series of different forms, perspectives and possible interpretations.”’ – Steven Heller

Here you can read more about the show and download a complete bilingual PDF of the catalog.

 

"Time After Time After Time" Exhibition Opening

I am pleased to share with you that on Thursday, September 11th, an exhibition of my work Time after Time after Time opened at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMSU) in Rijeka, Croatia. The exhibition showcases over 170 pieces of my work and will run until October 26th, 2025.

The curators of the exhibition are Marko Golub and Sabina Salamon.
Photos by Renato Antolović.

Come to the Show "Time after Time after Time"

On Thursday, September 11th, at 8 p.m., my exhibition "Time after Time after Time" will open at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMSU) in Rijeka, Croatia.

"Next Thursday in Rijeka at MMSU we are opening the exhibition of Mirko Ilic, where Sabina Salamon me and Mirko Ilić and lately Željko Serdarević as a designer have been working intensively but with great pleasure over the past period. Cooperation with MMSU was a natural choice because the Rijeka museum owns a huge collection of Mirko's works and we borrowed them from there on a number of other projects, but what made us particularly happy was to go through all those works through a topic that at first we only smelled as intriguing, and it proved to be to the all-encompassing. But it's so often with good works like these, every time you find something fresh and new in them, and new and great works keep coming. After all, Mirko's monograph that Dejan Krsic made before now for many years I still think is the best monograph dedicated to any artist in general, and I always have it at hand when I need a dose of something funny, horrible, bizarre, twisted in concentrated doses, it has everything. I'd love you to come if you're there - no, you haven't seen it all before, there are plenty of fresh works, little well-known old ones, and those anthologically presented in a different way."

Curators, authors of the text,  and authors of the exhibition design, Marko Golub and Sabina Salamon.

I would like to thank Željko Serdarević for the design of the beautiful poster and catalog of the exhibition.

 

One more gift from my friend. A three poster series for the Die Neue Sammlung exhibition Plastic+Design, design by Mendell & Oberer.

The studio was founded by Pierre Mendell and Klaus Oberer. They worked together from 1961 until 2000. Both designers studied at the School of Design in Basel, where they were steeped in the functionalist grid-based systems of graphic design that came to be internationally known as the Swiss style. Mendell & Oberer produced many exceptional posters for German cultural institutions, using minimal forms and colors to create maximally powerful designs.

 

‘Design Process Auto’ by Pierre Mendell

I received a gift from my friend, a poster by German designer Pierre Mendell for the exibit ‘Design Process Auto’ by Die Neue Sammlung in Munich.

'The exhibition provided an insight into the design process of automobiles, illustrating how designs and concepts are progressively refined until they reach a final solution. This process of simplification is reflected within Mendell’s poster. Through his design he wanted to convey the idea of progression. Using photography and line conversion techniques, Mendell demonstrated the exhibits subject matter through reductive form and bold use of colour — a familiar style amongst many of his work. The completed design demonstrates clearly and concisely that all car design starts from a single basic principle: four wheels.

Mendell’s familiar style reduces subject matter to its bare attributes, by utilising strong geometric form, striking colour, unexpected juxtapositions and missing elements, he allowed viewers to discover the exhibition on their own without taking the freshness out of the subject.

By supplying the viewers with little more than the first stage of car design, Mendell is encouraging the viewer to participate and engage with the piece, inviting them to fill in the details with their own imagination. Mendell’s ability to include and acknowledge the viewer demonstrates how accomplished and skilled he really is.

Through his reductive style, Mendell went on to define a whole generation of printed promotional material for cultural institutions all across Germany, earning him a reputation as one the worlds leading graphic designers.

His posters characterised the appearance of many public cultural institutions and for almost 30 years, Mendell continued to play a key role in the visual identity of Die Neue Sammlung.' –Mac Scott

To Be Continued… Comics and visual culture in Croatia

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, Croatia has opened a very ambitious exhibition of Croatian comics titled To Be Continued… Comics and visual culture in Croatia.

"The exhibition To Be Continued… Comics and visual culture in Croatia sets the so-called Ninth Art of comic strips, cartoons and graphic storytelling in its European and international context, bringing together its history, evolution, and canonical authors. The exhibition examines the way in which perceptions of comics have changed over time, the role of comics in shaping popular and mass culture, and the professional and personal networks within which comics are created and find their way to the audience."

Among others, they are featuring some of my comics and comics-related posters. Some of them, you can see on the photos here. 

Photos by Bernarda Cesar.

 

 

Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb

For their 140th anniversary, MUO - Muzej za umjetnost i obrt / Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb, Croatia, decided to refresh their permanent collection. That refreshment included a section called "Design in Croatia".

I'm very honored that they managed to fit three of my designs in that relatively small space. On top of that, I'm very honored that I'm sharing walls with some of my design idols as Boris Bucan, Ivan Picelj and Mihajl Arsovski.

"Handmade" 1997, theater poster

 

"Who Sings Over There" 1980, movie poster

"Hero of the Street" 1981, record cover, illiustration by Igor Kordej

I Promise You A Miracle

For Davor Vrankić's show, I Promise You A Miracle at MSU, Museum of contemporary art, Zagreb, I designed, with the help of Ana Zubić, a book/catalogue of Davor's work.

Below are a few spreads from the book along with some designs of posters and billboards announcing the show.

 

More spreads from the book can be viewed here.