Aleksandar Zograf's exhibition to open on Wednesday

BELGRADE - An exhibition by cartoonist Aleksandar Zograf, titled Life in a Comic Book, will open late Wednesday at the French Institute in Belgrade.

The exhibition features Zograf's comic strips published in France in three collections: Second-Hand World (2008), Regards from Serbia (2000), E-mails from Pancevo (1999) and works published in albums from the Lapin series.

The French Institute will also present several illustrations and comic strips published in Italy, the organisers have announced.

Sasa Rakezic, known under the alias of Aleksandar Zograf, was born in Pancevo in 1963.

His comic strips were first published in Yugoslav periodicals in 1986. He became more active internationally in the early 1990s, first gaining exposure in the United States, where his works were published by Seattle-based Fantagraphic Books, one of the world's most prominent alternative comics publishers.

Today, his comic books are published in France, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Hungary and Greece.

US-based Top Shelf has published an extensive anthology of his strips and texts, titled Regards from Serbia.

His works are published in magazines around the world, including Italian weekly Internazionale, Zograf's longest-standing partner.

He has participated in many international comic strip festivals and exhibitions, including Lucca Comics and Napoli Comicon (Italy), the Toy Comics exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, and a major stand-alone exhibition at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco.

The exhibition will be open until March 22.