Events
DON’T MISS
to 20 September 2026
George Hardie: Archaeology in Observation
To observe is to uncover. Like an archaeologist uncovering layers of history, George Hardie has spent over five decades noticing the overlooked, collecting visual culture, and transforming everyday observations into images in our collective memory. See Dan Nadel’s article ‘The rules of the game’ in Eye 58.
Hardie is one of Britain’s most influential illustrators, graphic designers and educators. His work has shaped the visual culture of music, publishing and public life. By combining wit, precision and exceptional graphic clarity, he has created some of the most iconic and memorable visuals. Showcasing a collection of his work, from early handmade sketches and unused concepts to finished products, the exhibition is organised into four thematic chapters. ‘Findings in Society’ traces people, culture, and the built environment. ‘Findings in Nature’ turns to plants, gardens, and the patterns of the natural world. ‘Findings in Books’ gathers his self-published works, revealing his wit and design instincts. ‘Findings in Music’ showcases the iconic imagery he created for bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
12-13 Sept 12:00-6:00pm
14-18 Sept 12:00-7:00pm
19-20 Sept 12:00-6:00pm
This event is part of London Design Festival 2026. The festival takes place across eleven Design Districts: Bankside, Brompton, Chelsea, Dalston to Stokey, EC1, Fleet Street Quarter, Mayfair, Park Royal, Shoreditch Design Week, Blackhorse Creates (fka William Morris Design Line) and Soho Design District.
Admission is free.
Wiedemann Lampe, 41 Hoxton Square, London N1 6PB
to 20 September 2026
Corbijn looks back on over five decades of work that spans photography, music videos, and film. ‘Corbijn, Anton’ celebrates his long career with nearly 150 pieces: portraits of Depeche Mode, Tom Waits, U2, the Rolling Stones, Martin Scorsese and Marlene Dumas, as well as German icons Nina Hagen, Herbert Grönemeyer, Einstürzende Neubauten and Wim Wenders. His signature black-and-white grainy aesthetic became a defining visual language in his work.
Fotografiska Berlin, Oranienburger Str. 54
10117 Berlin Mitte
to 20 September 2026
The 24th edition of the LDF champions, ‘emerging and established talent, fostering collaboration, innovation and international exchange across the global design community’ with a city-wide programme of Landmark Installations, Special Projects, the Global Design Forum, a Partner Programme and more.
The festival takes place across eleven Design Districts: Bankside, Brompton, Chelsea, Dalston to Stokey, EC1, Fleet Street Quarter, Mayfair, Park Royal, Shoreditch Design Week, Blackhorse Creates (fka William Morris Design Line) and Soho Design District.
23 September 2026
The Scottishness of Scottish Type
(Glasgow)
A talk by Paul Barnes on Scottish type, its historical contribution and ongoing influence on the world, to mark the release of Spectator.
Can a typeface ever represent a country, or is this just something that graphic designers imagine? Does Helvetica really say Switzerland? Does Antique Olive look French? Is Baskerville the face of England? And when it comes to Scotland, what would that be?
From the eighteenth century through to the twentieth century, Scotland was one of the dominant nations typographically, through its foundries, printers and publishers. The influence was not just south of the border, but across the world; especially in North America, where the term Scotch represented a particular style of serif letter that people still refer to.
Paul Barnes has explored this through a series of typefaces, including the newly released Spectator, that draw on historical models whilst modernising them for contemporary use. In his talk he will explore the research and process in making the typefaces and where they fit in the Scottish canon.
Admission is free.
Timings: 6:30pm-8:30pm
Graphical House & Collective Architecture
13 Bath Street
#4th Floor Glasgow G2 1HY
23 September 2026
Join St Bride Foundation to celebrate our annual Beatrice Warde Memorial Lecture with an exploration into ‘The Art of Listening’.
For this special event, eight speakers will share their unique perspectives on typography and type design. They will share how they experience the world of type – not just through observation, but through tuning into to their craft, their peers, feedback, stories, rhythms and histories that shape our creative practice.
This event invites you to listen closely, engage with our community, and honour the spirit of curiosity and insight that defines Warde’s legacy.
Speakers to be announced shortly.
In-Person Times (BST):
Doors/bar: 6:15pm
Talk Starts: 7pm
Talk Ends: 10pm
In-Person Tickets: £9, £12, £14
Online Times (BST): 7pm-9:15pm
Online Tickets: £7, £9
Book tickets here.
St Bride Foundation and online, 14 Bride Lane, London, EC4Y 8EQ
CURRENTLY ON
to 26 September 2026
Alma Singer Has Left The Group
Following on from Alma Singer's solo exhibition in 2024, ‘Not Big or Clever’, the artist explores of the human condition through her signature naïve style drawings paired with tongue-in-cheek figures and phrases. With more than 50 original works on display, interactive installations and a video piece.
Jealous, 53 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3PT
to 27 September 2026
Japanese Women Photographers: From 1950s to Now
The Photographers Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London W1F7LW
Top: NINAGAWA Mika, Untitled, 2003; from the series Liquid Dreams. Courtesy Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, and Aperture.
to 4 October 2026
Originally trained as an architect, Murugiah has brought ambitious scale and play with perspective to a decade of illustration projects.
Wed–Sun, 10am – 5pm. Tickets include entry to all exhibitions on the day of your visit: £16.50 adult / £6.60 child including donation. Free for members.
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, 1 Myddelton Passage, London EC1R 1AG
to 4 October 2026
The V&A Illustration Awards is a free, biennial competition celebrating excellence in illustration and contemporary practice, and judged by a panel of prominent illustrators and industry experts. The awards highlight a broad range of illustration styles and subjects. This display features the work of this year's winners and runners-up from each of the five categories: Adult Factual, Adult Fiction, Advertising and Commercial, Emerging Illustrator and Illustration for Children.
Galleries 88A and 90, V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL.
Top: Sleeper Train no. 4 by Baljinder Kaur, winner in the Illustration for Children category of the V&A Illustration Awards 2026.
to 4 October 2026
Portrait of a City: A Century of American Photography
This exhibition charts the evolution of US city life from the early 1900s to the close of the twentieth century. Featuring images from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, with more than 100 landmark works by some of the most influential photographers of that time.
Dulwich Picture Gallery, College Road, London SE21 7AD
Above: Mary Ellen Mark, The Damm Family in Their Car, Los Angeles, California, 1987 © Mary Ellen Mark, Courtesy of The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation / Arthur Leipzig, Divers, East River, 1948 © Estate of Arthur Leipzig, Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York / Saul Leiter, Harlem, 1960 © Saul Leiter Foundation / Helen Levitt, New York¸1972 © Helen Levitt, Courtesy of Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne.
to 4 October 2026
Curated by Paul Gravett, ‘Queer as Comics’ traces comics, strip cartoons, graphic novels and zines that have represented ‘LGBTQIA+’ perspectives since the 1940s. The exhibition includes work by Tove Jansson, Kate Charlesworth, Rupert Kinnard and David Shenton.
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, 1 Myddelton Passage, London EC1R 1AG
Wed–Sun, 10am – 5pm.
Tickets include entry to all exhibitions on day of visit:
£16.50 adult / £6.60 child including donation. Free for members.
to 4 October 2026
‘Worlds in View’ – the 57th edition of the Rencontres d’Arles – offers narratives rooted in various regions of the world, including the African continent and the Mediterranean. Spanning archives, major monographic exhibitions and emerging scenes, the images examine identities, stories and representations, while others explore myriad facets of life.
Tickets here. Various venues, Arles, France
Top: Paul Kodjo, Perdue et retrouvée [Lost and Found], 1973. Courtesy of Les Rencontres du Sud and in camera galerie.
to 18 October 2026
Comrades in Art: Artists Against Fascism
This exhibition on the anti-fascist Artists International Association (AIA) is the first in more than 40 years to focus on the AIA, established in 1933 to unify artists against fascism and war. It focuses on eleven artist-designers: Peggy Angus, Pearl Binder, James Boswell, James Fitton, Margaret Fitton, James Holland, Percy Horton, Peter Laszlo Peri, Betty Rea, Cliff Rowe and Nan Youngman. Their work is shown alongside works by prominent AIA exhibiting artists, including supporters such as Ithell Colquhoun, Laura Knight, Paul Nash and Lucien Pissarro.
The exhibition is based on extensive new archival and collections-based research conducted by author-curator Andy Friend and published in his book, Comrades in Art: Artists against Fascism, 1933-1943 (Thames & Hudson) with a foreword by Frances Spalding.
The third collaboration between Andy Friend and Towner Eastbourne, ‘Comrades in Art’ follows ‘Ravilious & Co: The Pattern of Friendship’ (2017-2018), see John L. Walters’ review in Eye 95, and ‘John Nash: the Landscape of Love and Solace’ (2021).
Tickets £5.50 to £11.
Free for Members & Under 25s
Galleries 2 & 3, Towner Eastbourne, Devonshire Park, College Road, Eastbourne BN21 4JJ
Top. Edward McKnight Kauffer, Design for Cambridge Exhibition Against War and Fascism, 1935.
Below text. F. H. K. Henrion, ‘For Liberty’ poster design, 1943. FHK Henrion Archive, University of Brighton Design Archives, courtesy of the Henrion Estate.
Directly above. Cliff Rowe, Women Silkscreen Workers, mid-1950s. © Cliff Rowe Estate. Courtesy of the People's History Museum
to 18 October 2026
Kyotographie: Kawada Kikuji x Iwane Ai
Japanese photographer Kawada Kikuji (b.1933) has been active for eight decades. The exhibition features his 1965 photobook Chizu (The Map), which examines the scars of the postwar period, and The Last Cosmology plus more recent work.
In her first major UK show, Iwane Ai (b.1975) presents her award-winning series Kipuka, exploring the lives of Japanese immigrants in Hawaii, and work from A New River, which captures eerily lit cherry blossoms at night in Japan’s northeastern Tо̄hoku region during the Covid-19 crisis.
This exhibition – the first ever photography show at the venue – is organised in partnership with Kyotographie International Photography Festival, held every year across Kyoto.
Admission free. Booking recommended.
Japan House, 101-111 Kensington High Street, London, W8 5SA
to 18 October 2026
Kho Liang Ie. Mid-century Modernist
The Stedelijk presents the first major museum retrospective of Kho Liang Ie, who with his designs for furniture and interiors played a key role in Dutch design from the 1950s to the mid-70s. Through his poetic approach and unconventional choice of materials, he infused his functionalist designs with an element of playfulness. He also cultivated a large international network and introduced fresh design talent to the Netherlands.
Admission: €12.50-€22.50
Opendaily: 10am-6 pm
No entrance after 5:45pm.
Stedelijk, Museumplein 10, 1071 DJ Amsterdam, Netherlands
to 21 October 2026
Alan Kitching: Living Legacy of Letterpress
A leading typographer and printmaker, as well as a living legend whose name resounds worldwide, Alan Kitching’s career started at a time when letterpress printing played the leading role in commercial printing. For over seventy years, since he was initiated into the world of letterpress as an apprentice compositor at the age of fifteen in the 1950s, Kitching has pursued letterpress printing along with the ups and downs of the industry.
His beautiful typesetting has been backed by his unquestionable knowledge and skill as a printer. He did not shirk from typographical experimentation with the ‘Broadside’ (broadsheets) printed and published during the 1980s and the 1990s, when letterpress printing no longer played a central role in the transmission of information. He explored the artistic potential of letterpress printing. His originality also bloomed freely with the typographic maps (maps made up solely of text) that he created in later years. Alan Kitching followed his own path, without being swayed by the trends and circumstances surrounding printing. He can only be described as a treasure, without peer, whose work is immediately identifiable at first glance.
This is the first full-scale exhibition of Alan Kitching’s work to be presented in Japan, covering everything from his early works to his latest projects. The walls at kyoto ddd gallery will be simply covered with all sorts of gems, from Kitching’s major works to rare creations that have laid slumbering in archives, as well as new works printed expressly for this exhibition. Visitors will be thrilled and moved by how Kitching devoted his life to letterpress printing, and by how his body of work embodies the immutable power of typography that serves as both a form of communication and a work of art.
Admission is free.
Hours & Closures
Tuesday-Friday: 11:00am-7:00pm
Saturdays, Sundays, and National Holidays: 11:00am-6:00pm
Closed: Mondays / Special closure on Tuesday 8 September
kyoto ddd gallery, 3F COCON KARASUMA, 620 Suiginya-cho, Karasuma-dori Shijo-sagaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto City 600 8411, Japan
to 24 October 2026
MCR MADE: Icons who make our city
This free exhibition features thirteen gigantic inflatable Stanley Chow portraits of Manchester heroes – from footballers to suffragettes – suspended across the shopping centre.
Manchester Arndale, Manchester, M4 3AQ
to 25 October 2026
The exhibition brings together the two series winners, Laetitia Vançon’s The Other Battlefields and Giya Makondo-Wills’ New Scramble, alongside 21 single-image winners responding to this year’s theme, On the Cusp. Together, the works explore lives and landscapes at moments of change.
Admission is free.
Opening hours: 11am-5:30pm. Closed on Mondays.
International Centre for the Image, Coopers Cross, Mayor Street Upper, North Wall, D01 E5Y8, Dublin, Ireland
Image above. Series Winner: Laetitia Vançon, The Other Battlefields.
to 29 October 2026
Opening at Osh Gallery as part of this year’s London Design Festival and running through to October, the gallery brings together Pentagram and Deus Ex Machina for an exhibition celebrating design, craftsmanship and the culture of making.
At its centre is an original 1965 Mini Cooper S race car featuring Matt Willey’s livery design for Deus, shown alongside a new collection of products developed by Deus, Willey and Pentagram industrial designer Piotr Woronkowicz.
Known for blurring the boundaries between motorcycles, surfing, art, design and contemporary culture, Deus Ex Machina has also reworked a selection of vintage garments especially for the exhibition. Each one-off piece has been upcycled and will be available to purchase exclusively at Osh Gallery during the festival.
Matt Willey (See Eye 95 and ‘Collection by Matt Willey’) has also designed a limited-edition newspaper for the exhibition, with copies available for visitors to take away.
Timings: Opening hours during LDF here / Opening hours after LDF (22 Sept-29 October) – Tues-Thurs 11am-4pm
OSH Gallery, 46 Essex Road, London, N1 8LN
to 1 Nov 2026
This large-scale retrospective to one of the leading photographers in postwar Germany features around 220 iconic photographs from a career spanning over six decades. Hans Hansen revolutionised product photography in campaigns for companies such as Lufthansa, Nikon, Volkswagen and Erco. His most recent series, ‘Analog’ (2024), highlights Hansen’s distinctive visual language.
Exhibition design: Axel Kufus. Graphic design: Heimann + Schwantes.
Open Tue to Sun, 10am to 6pm(until 9pm Thursdays).
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (MK&G) Hamburg, Steintorplatz 20099 Hamburg, Germany
to 1 November 2026
Reading Under Fire: Arming Minds & Hearts During Wartime
During World Wars I and II, nearly every nation involved recognised that it was necessary to provide materials to maintain soldier wellbeing and morale. Because foot soldiers had to carry all of their possessions, small, portable entertainment was preferred. As such, books quickly soared in popularity. Between lulls in action or when waiting for orders far from the front lines, troops read to forget their surroundings and fears, taking a mental vacation from their hardships.
This exhibition includes book-related posters from the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Germany printed during both world wars. All of these nations relied on public book donations and fundraising to supply soldiers with reading material, and many posters aimed to mobilise the public to give. While some encourage escapist fiction and recreational reading, educational books were also acquired for troops to help them prepare for promotion within the Army, future jobs or civilian life. By World War II, books had also become a powerful symbol of freedom and democracy for America and its allies.
Admission: $10-15 (free admission every Friday)
Hours: Open Thursday, Saturday, Sunday 10am-6pm, Friday 10am-9pm
Poster House, Lower Level Hallways, 119 W. 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011
to 1 November 2026
From Monarchy to Modernity: Travel, Identity, & the Czechoslovak First Republic (1918–1938)
On 28 October 1918, Czechoslovakia declared its independence and became a new country formed from Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia – all lands formerly part of the Austro Hungarian Empire which had been officially dissolved as a result of World War I. The period from 1918 to 1938 is referred to as the First Republic.
This exhibition explores seldom-seen travel posters from this golden age of Czechoslovakian history. They were created by artists, designers and commercial studios who understood that tourism was more than leisure – it was diplomacy. In a region long defined by the imperial borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, travel posters became vehicles for soft power, enticing both domestic and foreign audiences to see the First Czechoslovak Republic as a land of opportunity, beauty and progress.
Admission: $10-15 (free admission every Friday)
Hours: Open Thursday, Saturday, Sunday 10am-6pm, Friday 10am-9pm
Poster House, Entry Foyer, 119 W. 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011
to 8 November 2026
Tangible Sound: Arrival to a Higher Ground
This exhibition creates a sensory and celebratory experience of jazz art forms that connect, uplift and transform our human spirit by translating the power of music into colour and movement.
Together, photographer Lauren Deutsch, filmmaker Jonathan Woods, and the Tangible Sound Collaborative created an immersive exhibition celebrating Chicago’s creative improvised music community. The exhibition is inspired by the early experimenters whose boundary-breaking practices have influenced generations of visual and sonic artists.
Admission is free.
Open Daily, 10am-5pm, Closed Holidays
(Exhibitions close 15 minutes before the building closes)
Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Galleries, 1st Floor East
Image above. Lauren Deutsch, Tsukasa Taiko + Miyumi Project (Part of Tangible Sound Immersive presented at Asian Improv Arts Midwest on May 9, 2024) Digital Projection, 2024, Image credit: Lauren Deutsch
to 14 November 2026
Henry Wessel: Photographs and Books
From the Collection of Jack Gray
A spotlight exhibition on photographs and books by Henry Wessel (1942–2018), who first came to prominence in 1972 with a solo exhibition at MoMA in New York. Initially, his practice centred on exhibitions with related catalogs. Wessel later moved emphatically to making sequences of photographs explicitly intended as one work issued as portfolios and published as books with minimal further context. Curated by Grolier Club member Jack Gray from his collection, the exhibition features over 65 photographs including Wessel’s full ‘Incidents’ and ‘Traffic’ portfolios, and highlights from Wessel’s full body of work. A catalogue, published by The Grolier Club, will be available this autumn.
The Grolier Club, Second Floor Gallery, 47 East 60th Street. New York, NY 10022
Image above. Henry Wessel, Incident No 5. Gelatin silver print. No date. Copyright the Estate of Henry Wessel.
to 15 November 2026
Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and Friends
Go behind the scenes of stop-motion animation and explore how Aardman’s iconic characters and worlds are brought to life. In Aardman’s 50th anniversary year, peek behind the scenes of your favourite stop-motion animations and find out how Aardman brings clay to life. Visit Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Morph as many times as you like with your exhibition pass.
Admission: £11
Hours: Open daily 10am-5:45pm
Young V&A, Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9PA
to 13 December 2026
Pressing Issues: Printmaking as Social Justice in 1930s United States
Pressing Issues brings together work by artists in the United States who, through their art, produced critical commentaries on the injustices plaguing the country during the 1930s. In the midst of the Great Depression, artists in the United States were put to work through the relief efforts of the New Deal to both provide them a living wage and to bolster the spirits of the general public. Many used the opportunity to portray various scenes of everyday life in the United States through images of urban and rural landscapes, leisure activities and industrial growth while others directed their viewers’ attention to economic toil and issues of social justice. Featuring rarely displayed Works Progress Administration/Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP) prints from Krannert Art Museum’s collection, this exhibition addresses themes of labor unrest including exploitation, economic disparity and gender inequalities, as well as racial violence and reactions to the rise of fascism.
Chazen Museum of Art, 750-800 University Ave, Madison, Wisconsin
to 17 December 2026
The exhibition ‘Come Fly With Me: Aviation, tourism and Irish design’ examines Irish cultural history through the exploration of aviation- and tourism-related graphic design from the 1940s to the 60s.
The exhibition uses flight as a central thread to explore how design and print helped construct national identity, promote Irish modernisation and position Ireland internationally. With the arrival of a number of Dutch graphic designers to Ireland in the 1950s to work on advertising for Aer Lingus, depictions of Ireland and Irishness were forever changed, as was Ireland’s relationship to Continental Europe and the US. Their design work was recognised internationally, had a huge impact on Irish design and economic development.
Admission is free and all are welcome.
Opening hours: Tuesday – Friday (10am-4pm), Saturday & Sunday (12noon-4pm).
A Curator’s Tour will take place on Thursday 24 September at 19.00. Tickets €6/€5 concessions.
National Print Museum, Old Garrison Chapel, Beggars Bush Barracks, Haddington Road, Dublin 4 D04 E0C9, Ireland
to 20 December 2026
Wanda and Marion Wulz: Avant-garde Photography in 20th-Century Italy
This exhibition explores the pioneering work of sisters Wanda Wulz (1903-84) and Marion Wulz (1905-93), key figures in the development of avant-garde photography in twentieth-century Italy. Organised in collaboration with the Fondazione Alinari per la Fotografia and with the support of Calliope Arts Foundation, the show also traces the wider legacy of the Wulz family, whose photographic practice spanned generations.
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art | 39a Canonbury Square | London, N1 2AN
Top. Carlo Wulz Marion and Wanda Wulz, 1927. Modern print from silver gelatin dry glass plate negative. Florence, Archivi Alinari-Archivio Carlo
Wulz.
to 21 February 2027
Avant-Garde—Graphic Design on the Rise
The exhibition shows how modern graphic design crystallised into a professional discipline in its own right in the 1920s and early 1930s. Typography, photography and graphic abstraction became the visual modes of expression through which graphic designers sought to actively shape the social and political upheavals of their time.
Admission: regular CHF 15; reduced CHF 10; free for everyone every Thursday from 5pm; free under twenty years
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-5:00pm; Thursday 10:00-8:00pm; Closed on Monday
Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Ausstellungsstrasse 608005
5 June 2026 – 1 April 2027
An opportunity to explore Quentin Blake's theatrical influences, from circus to Shakespeare, including more than 100 original works by Blake in this UK-first survey of the influence of theatre on his work.
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, 1 Myddelton Passage, London EC1R 1AG
Wed–Sun, 10am – 5pm.
Tickets include entry to all exhibitions on day of visit:
£16.50 adult / £6.60 child including donation. Free for members.
to April 2027
Art deco: the golden age of poster design
This exhibition explores the way Art Deco made its mark on London Transport’s art and design heritage.
Marking the centenary of the 1925 Paris Exhibition, this is an opportunity to learn about the artistic moment, see unique artworks that have never been on public display, and explore the art deco and modernist architecture of Charles Holden in changing the face of London with his remarkable Tube station designs.
More than 100 original posters from London Transport Museum’s collection, alongside loans from significant collections are on display. This includes posters from designers including Edward McKnight Kauffer, Dora Batty, Jean Dupas and Munetsugu Satomi.
Entry to the Global Poster Gallery is free with your Museum admission.
See the ‘The purpose of posters’ on the Eye blog.
London Transport Museum, Covent Garden Piazza, London WC2E 7BB
to 30 May 2027
100 Years – 100 Objects
on the 100th anniversary of Die Neue Sammlung
To mark its 100th anniversary, Die Neue Sammlung 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.
Opening Hours: Daily 10:00 – 18:00, Thursday 10:00-20:00, Closed Monday
Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum, Barer Straße 40, 80333 Munich
to Summer 2027
It’s Alive! A Century of Animation from the Collection
Since the birth of motion pictures, animation has enchanted audiences. At MoMA, its creative evolution has been celebrated by more than a hundred programs and acquisitions from both independent filmmakers and major studios alike. Drawing from this history and spanning more than 100 years of expression and aesthetics, It’s Alive! shows the work of more than 35 artists and filmmakers who advanced the medium, from the silent era to colour and the modernisation of animation design.
Independent artists such as Jane Aaron, John Canemaker, Faith and Emily Hubley, George Griffin, Candy Kugel, Jeff Scher (see Eye 60) and Michael Sporn all called New York home. Balancing projects for Public Television and MTV with personal filmmaking, these animators created bodies of work that resonated worldwide. ‘It’s Alive!’ celebrates the city’s movie-making history and the diversity and delights of animation.
MoMA, 11 West 53 Street, Manhattan
SEPTEMBER 2026
23 September 2026
The Scottishness of Scottish Type
(Glasgow)
A talk by Paul Barnes on Scottish type, its historical contribution and ongoing influence on the world, to mark the release of Spectator.
Can a typeface ever represent a country, or is this just something that graphic designers imagine? Does Helvetica really say Switzerland? Does Antique Olive look French? Is Baskerville the face of England? And when it comes to Scotland, what would that be?
From the eighteenth century through to the twentieth century, Scotland was one of the dominant nations typographically, through its foundries, printers and publishers. The influence was not just south of the border, but across the world; especially in North America, where the term Scotch represented a particular style of serif letter that people still refer to.
Paul Barnes has explored this through a series of typefaces, including the newly released Spectator, that draw on historical models whilst modernising them for contemporary use. In his talk he will explore the research and process in making the typefaces and where they fit in the Scottish canon.
Admission is free.
Timings: 6:30pm-8:30pm
Graphical House & Collective Architecture
13 Bath Street
#4th Floor Glasgow G2 1HY
23 September 2026
Join St Bride Foundation to celebrate our annual Beatrice Warde Memorial Lecture with an exploration into ‘The Art of Listening’.
For this special event, eight speakers will share their unique perspectives on typography and type design. They will share how they experience the world of type – not just through observation, but through tuning into to their craft, their peers, feedback, stories, rhythms and histories that shape our creative practice.
This event invites you to listen closely, engage with our community, and honour the spirit of curiosity and insight that defines Warde’s legacy.
Speakers to be announced shortly.
In-Person Times (BST):
Doors/bar: 6:15pm
Talk Starts: 7pm
Talk Ends: 10pm
In-Person Tickets: £9, £12, £14
Online Times (BST): 7pm-9:15pm
Online Tickets: £7, £9
Book tickets here.
St Bride Foundation and online, 14 Bride Lane, London, EC4Y 8EQ
24 September 2026 – 4 January 2027
Arthur Jafa: I Am Tony will be the largest museum survey exhibition to date of the work of Arthur Jafa (b. 1960, Tupelo, MS), spanning two floors of the newly expanded New Museum to encompass the full breadth of the practice of one of the most influential artists of his generation. Alongside the premiere of new work, the exhibition will feature Jafa’s most celebrated works, including Love is the Message, The Message is Death (2016) and the Golden Lion-winning The White Album (2019), as well as recent paintings, large-scale video and film installations, and a range of sculptural and photographic objects.
Over a nearly forty-year career, Jafa has sought to find new visual forms to capture the rhythm and realities of Black life in America. Often placing the nation’s growing awareness of the history of institutional violence directed toward the Black community against the backdrop of the ascension of Black culture, music, and entertainment in American national identity, Jafa’s work turns an unflinching eye toward the past while embodying and mirroring our contemporary obsession with masses of images or ‘content’. I Am Tony, named for the legendary jazz drummer Tony Williams, will chart Jafa’s work from his earliest films to recent video installations, mapping the evolution of his filmic language whose syncopations and textures match the aspirations of Black popular music.
See ‘Twisting the alien’, Rick Poyner's photo critique of Jafa's APEX.
More info here.
New Museum, 235 Bowery, New York, NY 10002
Image Above: Arthur Jafa, Pledge of Allegiance, 1899, 2017
24 September 2026
The Scottishness of Scottish Type
(Edinburgh)
A talk by Paul Barnes on Scottish type, its historical contribution and ongoing influence on the world, to mark the release of Spectator.
Can a typeface ever represent a country, or is this just something that graphic designers imagine? Does Helvetica really say Switzerland? Does Antique Olive look French? Is Baskerville the face of England? And when it comes to Scotland, what would that be?
From the eighteenth century through to the twentieth century, Scotland was one of the dominant nations typographically, through its foundries, printers and publishers. The influence was not just south of the border, but across the world; especially in North America, where the term Scotch represented a particular style of serif letter that people still refer to.
Paul Barnes has explored this through a series of typefaces, including the newly released Spectator, that draw on historical models whilst modernising them for contemporary use. In his talk he will explore the research and process in making the typefaces and where they fit in the Scottish canon.
Admission is free.
Timings: 7:00pm-9:00pm
West Court, Edinburgh College of Art
74 Lauriston Place
Edinburgh EH3 9DF
23 September 2026 – 31 January 2027
This major solo exhibition of New Delhi-based artist and filmmaker Amar Kanwar (b. 1964, New Delhi, India), one of the most prominent artists working in moving image today, will be presented at Serpentine North.
For over two decades, Kanwar has developed a distinctive body of lyrical films that move between documentary, travelogue and visual essay to explore the specific conditions of the Indian subcontinent. Having produced and directed numerous films and multi-video installations, Kanwar’s poetic and contemplative works are frequently marked by the history of his country, tracing the legacies of decolonialisation and the Partition of India and Pakistan. Whilst charged with a regional specificity and deeply personal histories, Kanwar’s work grapples with some of the most pressing issues of our time. Reckoning with the past as a means to better comprehend the present, Kanwar bears witness to social upheaval, displacement, power, violence, justice and memory, ultimately revealing what unites – rather than differentiates – us, regardless of geography or context.
Admission is free.
Hours: Monday 12-6pm, Tuesday-Friday 10am-6pm, Saturday-Sunday 10am-7pm
Serpentine North, West Carriage Drive, London W2 2AR
Image above: Amar Kanwar, Such a Morning, 2017 (film still). Digital video, 4K, colour, sound, 85 min. Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery.
25 September 2026 – 21 February 2027
Designed to Be Red: Native American & Indigenous Poster Works
Mythmakers and marketing teams have long used graphic design to tell stories about Native Americans, First Nations, Métis, Alaska Natives, and other Indigenous peoples rather than with them, creating reductive, inaccurate, and harmful representations of a living, vibrant, and varied group of people.
Despite this, Native graphic art has a rich history that shows that its practitioners are not merely subjects of design but shapers of it – innovators who have created dynamic, subversive, and optimistic work despite centuries of cultural obliteration, land theft, and socio-economic marginalisation. Through examples spanning nearly two centuries and representing over 60 tribes and nations, this exhibition reveals and celebrates design histories that have always existed alongside, despite, and in resistance to dominant colonial narratives, illustrating the full spectrum of Native life.
Admission: $10-15
Hours: Thursday, Saturday and Sunday – 10:00am-6:00pm, Friday – 10:00am-9:00pm
Poster House, Main Gallery, 119 W. 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011
25 September 2026 – 21 February 2027
Cuteness, Conservatism, & Consumption: Lefor-Openo and Postwar France
In the aftermath of World War II, France faced a daunting recovery challenge. A significant portion of its younger male population was dead or held in prisoner of war camps, its industry was in tatters, its farms and therefore its ability to produce food decimated, and its citizens demoralised in the wake of the Vichy government that capitulated to and collaborated with the Nazis. The French economy had also halved in size since before the war and was further threatened by rampant inflation, leaving most citizens unable to purchase much beyond basic necessities.
The next three decades would be defined by rapid and significant social and political changes primarily brought about by General Charles de Gaulle after he was voted out of retirement in 1958. His vision to rebuild France as an independent global power impacted every part of French life, from its economy to its shopping habits, its moral code to its leisure pursuits. The posters produced during this period, however, rarely hinted at this turbulent landscape. Instead, advertising focused on producing bright, optimistic images that saturated the streets with cute rather than with chaos. Along with major male artists like Raymond Savignac and Hervé Morvan, many of these extreme changes were also chronicled, indirectly, in the posters produced by a new female design team known as Lefor-Openo.
This exhibition showcases the breadth of Lefor-Openo’s twelve-year career, using their work a lens through which to view midcentury French society, politics, and culture.
Admission: $10-15
Hours: Thursday, Saturday and Sunday – 10:00am-6:00pm, Friday – 10:00am-9:00pm
Poster House, Programs Gallery, 119 W. 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011
OCTOBER 2026
2 October 2026 to 4 April 2027
This is the largest solo presentation of Devlin’s archive to date. Highlights include a detailed replica of Devlin’s London studio, filled with her books, objects and maquettes. A wall installation entitled 'Archive Unboxed' will present early sketches, paintings, collages, diaries and prints that Devlin produced at school, university and art college, and has continued to create, that demonstrate her love of drawing.
Central to the exhibition is the ‘30-Year Desk’, a large-scale circular display which references works including Devlin’s set design for The Lehman Trilogy (2018), Forest of Us, shown in Miami in 2021, her work on the London 2012 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show, and ambitious kinetic stage sculptures created for concert tours.
Admission: Adult from £17.09; student / concession from £12.82; child from £8.55.
The museum opens daily from 10:00 to 17:00.
Relaxed opening hours: Wed 25 Nov, 10-12 noon; Sun 29 Nov, 10-12 noon.
The Design Museum, 224-238 Kensington High St, London W8 6AG
Top: Es Devlin photographed among her archive.
Photo credit Daniel Devlin / @susakpress.
13 October 2026
Type Tuesday North: My favourite logo
Eye’s Type Tuesday heads north for an early evening event at the David Crow Lecture Theatre, Lowry Building, Manchester School of Art, MMU, Manchester
The line-up includes Stanley Chow, Malcolm Garrett, Craig Oldham and a host of opinionated designers. Note: the panel can’t talk about their own logos!
Type Tuesday is Eye’s regular bash for everyone interested in graphic design, typography, type design, photography, illustration and visual culture, an event we have been hosting for more than a decade in London (and occasionally further afield).
Doors open 5.30pm. There will be a bar and a pop-up shop selling the latest issue, Eye 110, plus bargain back issues.
Type Tuesday North is a collaboration between SEA Design, Manchester Metropolitan University and Eye Magazine Ltd. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.
Subscribe to the Eye newsletter for more details.
14 Oct 2026 – Sun 21 Feb 2027
Snap Happy! How Children Became Photographers
Through photographs and archives, ‘Snap Happy!’ celebrates the creativity, curiosity and distinctive perspectives of generations of young photographers.
The Photographers Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London W1F7LW
‘Snap Happy!’ is curated by Annebella Pollen, Professor of Visual and Material Culture at University of Brighton, UK, where she researches undervalued archives and untold stories in art and design history. Supported by the Leverhulme Trust.
Whippersnappers: How Children Became Photographers by Annebella Pollen will be published in September by Four Corners Books.
15-25 October 2026
The eleventh edition of Graphic Days, the first festival dedicated to Italian and international visual and social design, is coming to Turin from 15 to 25 October and will be held for the first time it the Gruppo Building Construction Site.
An annual event that focuses on visual communication, highlighting the latest trends in international visual and social design and showcasing the most cutting-edge creative practices.
The theme of this year's edition is DISORDER and will feature over sixty international guests, fifteen exhibitions, eight talks, six workshops for adults, three tips & tricks, eight workshops for children, performances, DJ sets, a market show, live printing, portfolio reviews and activities for schools and families aim to disseminate the value of visual design, engaging with professionals on the one hand and with the local community and the general public on the other.
For exhibitions, The Humanism of Data presents the original works of Giorgia Lupi (see 'Books received #36'): an internationally renowned information designer, nominated for the ADI Compasso d’Oro in 2025, whose works are exhibited worldwide and feature in the permanent collections of the MOMA.
The programme of events features over 60 guests from the international scene, including Erik Kessels (see Eye 38), Verònica Fuerte (See Eye 107), Quim Marín, YONK, Johanna Jaskowska, Felix Pfäffli (see the Eye blog), Erich Brechbuhl, Henningh Wagenbreth, Ksawery Komputery, Nerdo and many more.
Construction sites of Gruppo Building, Barriera di Milano district of Turin
Images above: Middle. Bomba Design. Bottom. Giorgia Lupi.
22-25 October 2026
BIG Biennale Internazionale Grafica, Milan
A four-day event in the Italian capital, with exhibitions, talks and workshops.
‘SIGNS’ shows the work of twelve contemporary Italian graphic designers: Giga Design; Dario Carta; Giorgia Cadeddu; Federica Ricci; Giulia Boccarossa; Emilio Macchia; Chiara Zhu; Studio Atto; Elia Barbieri; Pop-eye studio; Firm; and esc design studio.
‘Alfabeti Modernisti Type Specimens’ showcases twenty-five digital revivals based on wood and lead typefaces produced in Italy during the 1930s and 40s. (See James Clough’s pieces in Eye 109 and 110.)
ADI Design Museum, Milan, Italy
NOVEMBER 2026
12 November 2026 – 11 April 2027
Sculpting Sound: Günther Kieser’s Music Posters
In 1949, Germany was officially split into two distinct countries: communist East Germany, under the authoritarian umbrella of the U.S.S.R., and democratic West Germany. As most American and British popular music had been banned under the Nazi regime as 'degenerate', its sudden mass availability in West Germany was both thrilling and slightly subversive for its citizens. Jazz in particular, with its promise of being a truly free and experimental medium, found avid fans in the country, among them a young Günther Kieser.
By the early 1950s, Kieser’s posters for this budding music scene were attracting attention. Many are based on illustration, embracing styles as disparate as psychedelic and modern minimalism; others highlight his abilities as a typographer. His most well-known, however, tap into his background as a sculptor’s apprentice and show him constructing three-dimensional models or collages that echo wider themes within a performer’s music. The results are wildly varied and look nothing like any other concert posters from the latter half of the 20th century.
While Kieser’s career spanned four decades and encompassed posters for a variety of clients, he is best known for those he made for musical events. Although his earliest posters were for jazz concerts, his posters for rock bands remain some of the most surprising and remarkable of the period, combining meticulously composed, physical elements with the nebulous, free-form, and abstract nature of music.
Admission: $10-15
Hours: Thursday, Saturday and Sunday – 10:00am-6:00pm, Friday – 10:00am-9:00pm
Poster House, Lower Level Hallways, 119 W. 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011
12 November 2026 – 11 April 2027
Just Say Nyet: The Soviet Battle Against Booze
In the waning days of Soviet Russia, its leader Mikhail Gorbachev made a last, desperate attempt to curb his nation’s rampant alcoholism through severe restrictions and a broad-reaching, exceptionally blunt advertising campaign. In appeals to health, common decency, emotional well-being, and labor production alike, the government begged its people to give up the bottle. It did not succeed.
Admission: $10-15
Hours: Thursday, Saturday and Sunday – 10:00am-6:00pm, Friday – 10:00am-9:00pm
Poster House, Entry Foyer, 119 W. 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011
Ongoing
Philip Sayer: A journey through East Anglia
A digital exhibition presenting an extended series of photographs taken by Philip Sayer between 2005 and 2023 within a thirty-mile radius of his Norfolk home.
Through Sayer’s lens, the viewer is transported into a richly atmospheric vision of the region as an impressive sequence of images that sweep across its varied terrain. In his distinctive style – developed over the course of a professional photography career that spans six decades – deep darks meet fluctuating patches of vibrant light and between them a dynamic interplay of bold contrasts emerges.
Online
Reverting to Type 2020: Protest Posters
Reverting to Type 2020 is an exhibition of letterpress artwork with something to say, an international exhibition showcasing progressive letterpress artwork by 100 artists from seventeen countries, alongside the work of specially invited collaborators, including John Anstiss, Shelley Bird, Sarah Boris, Dennis Gould, Peter Kennard and Stewart Lee. (See Word play in Eye 101).
The full exhibition contents can be seen at: revertingtotype.com
17-20 November 2026
Four days in Barcelona dedicated to bringing together Europe’s creative community to learn, connect, and celebrate.
This year’s edition focuses on ‘Relationships’, exploring where great ideas really come from. Behind every award-winning campaign, every iconic design and every bold creative leap is a network of people who made it possible.
ONLINE + ONGOING
Ongoing
The Letterform Archive have made their Online Archive public access. You can now enjoy virtual access to nearly 1500 objects and 9000 hi-fi images from their collection.
See ‘Access all areas’ by Claire Mason on the Eye blog and ‘Letterform Archive: Objects of inspiration’ in Eye 100.
Ongoing
Soho Photography Quarter is a permanent new outdoor cultural space, presenting the very best of contemporary photography, for free. A tranquil and accessible cultural space only seconds from Oxford Street, Soho, Photography Quarter will present a rotating, open-air programme of site-specific and interactive artworks, which will change twice a year.
Soho Photography Quarter, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London, W1F 7LW
Ongoing
Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Questions)
MOCA has reinstalled the monumental wall work by Los Angeles–based artist Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Questions) (1990/2018). The emblematic red, white, and blue artwork was originally commissioned by MOCA in 1989 for the exhibition A Forest of Signs: Art in the Crisis of Representation, and was last installed in 1990 on the south wall of MOCA’s building.
MOCA Gaffen, 152 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
See ‘Barbara Kruger: Reputations’ in Eye 5
Above: Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Questions), 1990/2018, on view October 20, 2018–November 2020 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, photo by Elon Schoenholz.
Ongoing
Ruben Pater of Untold Stories at Insights 2020
Focusing on the ethics of design, this lecture discusses the unspoken realities of designers working remotely across the globe, and from there dives into social and political issues such as climate change, surveillance, and affordable housing.
See Peter Buwert’s ‘Design’s ugly truths’, a review of Ruben Pater’s The Politics of Design, in Eye 93.
ongoing
The decade marks a historic turn in art history for photography. No longer was traditional landscape and documentary photography the same. Photography shared the spotlight with painting.
Online exhibition on the website of the PDNB Gallery.
Above: Bill Owens, Our House is Built with the Living Room in the Back, 1971.