“We want to surprise”: why’The comics exhibition at the Pompidou Center is a must-see

Comics come out of the bubbles to’impose itself in majesty in the temple of the’modern Art. In the Pompidou Center in Paris, they are exhibited, on five floors of up to’to November 4.

An important event since some of these works, coming from private collections and museums around the world, do not’They have never been exhibited in France. Treasures that contribute to the recognition of comics as an important art, while most national museums have up to’Now it rarely opens its doors.

Colossal exhibition, which brings together 750 plates by more than 130 authors, “Comics, 1964-2024” It is a “strong challenge” for the Center Pompidou, which has “gathered all its forces” to celebrate an art that is often devalued.’On Tuesday, May 28, its president Laurent Le Bon is congratulated during’a visit organized for the press.

Colossal this wandering through the’history of the ninth art’it’s D’All the more so since the Center Pompidou presents this event in the form of five exhibitions that include a thematic exploration of comics and a comparison of posters by major comic artists with the canvases of great names in modern painting.

“Comics,’It is both drawing and telling stories. Can’understood in various ways. this North’it’s not because’It is an art of the book that’original’is not from’the art itself. this North’because’it is drawn that’is not literature,” summarizes Anne Lemonnier, co-curator of the’exposure.

“The most beautiful comics exhibition”

Long considered reserved for the youngest, comics appear here as a complex art. Briefly citing works such as Asterix, Gaston Lagafe either lucky luke AND snoopyl’The exhibition goes outside the usual circuits and gives prominence to albums that are often more demanding and less known to the general public.

l’work of Hergé, and in particular Castafiore’s jewels, is also analyzed in a section dedicated to contemplative stories. “V.S.’It’s not bad to also create a little change and surprise”, s’—amuses Anne Lemonnier. “V.S.’is the only Tintin adventure without adventure, where the’We stay in Moulinsart, trapped in the’Captain Haddock’s sprain.”

Catalog cover’“Comics (1964-2024)” exhibition at the Center Pompidou © Moebius / Center Pompidou

“l’exposure ‘Comics, 1964-2024’ It is without a doubt the most beautiful produced to date,” Benoît Peeters, a great specialist in the 9th Art, greeted on X (ex-Twitter). “L’together it’s awesome’intelligence and beauty.” Here is why this event is not to be missed.

• Five exhibitions for all ages.

Aimed at all ages and all audiences, the five exhibitions organized by the Pompidou Center are above all complementary. The decision to put the three main comic territories (Japan, the United States and Europe) into perspective, for the first time, is “a form of’open the field of understanding to the maximum,” explains Anne Lemonnier.

“As comics are such a vast field as’infinite, like n’any support, with a multitude of graphic tabs,’It was a way of creating complementarity with mirror works that correspond to each other,” explains the specialist.

The Pompidou Center also targets children. “One might believe that’starting the’exhibition with underground comics, the young audience may not feel comfortable, but we wanted’always feels welcome. In the room dedicated to commemorative history, which evokes the great traumas of’history of the 20th century, which is a quite difficult room, we show, for example, a sequence of Spirou d'”Emilio Bravo.”

• A fun ride

l’The exhibition “Comics, 1964-2024” is made up of twelve sections, counterculture, fear, dream, laughter, color, black and white, history and memory, self-writing, the passage of days, literature, anticipation, cities and geometry. Precise topics to avoid a classical or even academic exploration of literary genres.

Visitors discovering designer Seth’s model in the’“Comics (1964-2024)” exhibition at the Pompidou Center © Antonin Utz

An original scenography runs through 12 themed rooms. Image rails suspended in the void cross giant screens that broadcast films and digital works created live on tablets (Zeina Abirached, Pénélope Bagieu, Martin Panchaud…), as well as new mural creations by Blutch and Chris Ware.

For the curators of these exhibitions,’The ambition is not so much to legitimize comics as to “create discoveries,” says Anne Lemonnier. “We want to surprise.’It’s really anything but a lesson. For us, legitimacy is acquired. against’It is a very free route. “Wandering is done according to desires and affinities.”

• Treasures of Japan

Original plates by great mangakas rarely leave Japan, except in recent years for Festival exhibitions.’Angoulême. The Pompidou Center, thanks in particular to the support of the’man of’business Michel-Edouard Leclerc, a great collector, knew how to gather treasures of’Manga history.

Original plates -and in color- of Doraemon by Fujiko F. Fujio are exhibited for the first time in France. We also find boards starring Astro Boy d.’Osamu Tezuka, or even the illustrations of Shigeru Mizuki, master of stories about yokaïs, creatures of Japanese folklore. “We had some absolutely brilliant discoveries and surprises in this Japanese field,” says Anne Lemonnier.

l’The exhibition also features works by Kazuo Umezu, master of’Japanese horror. And the’full original manga d’horror The little girl’hell d’Hideshi Hino. Without forgetting several exceptional tips from generation d’Hiroshima by Keiji Nakazawa, directly from the Peace Memorial Museum’Hiroshima and Kuniko Tsurita, a rare female mangaka from the 1970s whose’work comes from’It will finally be published in French.

• Current authors

Alison Bechdel, Catherine Meurisse, Marjane Satrapi, Pénélope Bagieu… The key authors n’They have not been forgotten. “When you open the’exhibition with a room about the 60s, the observation is made quickly. against'”It is a very masculine world (although we quote) three authors: Kuniko Tsurita in Japan, Olivia Clavel in France and Aline Kominsky in the United States,” lists Anne Lemonnier.

For’offer a larger space to the authors, the decision was made to complete the’exhibition in 2024. “By pushing the cursor up’until today’today we show you the most’possible authors, since this conquest of’space for comics written by women is something relatively recent,” says the curator, who does not’However, he did not wish to seek absolute parity.

“It would be really distorting’history,” he says.’exhibition that began in the 1960s, it would be unfair to propose parity. However, with a quarter of’authors featured in the’exhibition, we highlight this part of creation.”

• A unique opportunity

This exhibition is unique. It is not about traveling around France or the world. The displayed plates will return to archives and personal collections in November to avoid damage. “A drawing should be exposed to a maximum of 50 lux,” specifies Anne Lemonnier.

“The international standard for the presentation of drawings requires that works revert to black after a period of time.’exhibition – which is also an important moment compared to the rules that’we adopt’habit. against’it is impossible to draw’wander,” adds the specialist.

But this event at the Pompidou Center should be the first’a long series dedicated to comics. “I would like that’There are consequences of this exposure. j’I hope it opens minds, opens the field. j’We hope that this adventure continues in another form,” concludes the commissioner.