PHOTOS: Paris has So. Many. Comics Exhibitions!

Paris is festooned with comics exhibitions right now. While the city is seldom short of something comics-related to check out, it seems this year has a bumper crop – with incredible work on show from major retrospectives for Joann Sfar and Posy Simmonds, to small private gallery affairs featuring the work of Daniel Clowes and more.

Joann Sfar might be the most high profile of all the exhibitions taking place in Paris right now. A thirty year career, the French author got the deluxe treatment for his retrospective exhibition at the Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme. It is a sweeping exhibition that glimpses every facet of his career and bibliography – with neat biographical details like family photos accompanying his most recent autobiographical titles, an overview of his years sharing a studio among other major names of the new wave of French artists in the 2000s (which included Marjane Satrapi among its number), his work for the big screen, and his most famous series of all – The Rabbi’s Cat.

Tying everything together are his innumerable sketchbooks, many of which have been republished. A solid overview whose biggest failing might be that we only get glimpses of subjects that would make incredible exhibitions in their own right.

Nearby, at the Pompidou Centre – located within its public library space, is a (free) Posy Simmonds retrospective exhibition. The exhibition splits the life of the Grand Prix-winning cartoonist into five themes or subjects, ably filling in the casual visitor in on a career spanning over fifty years. It features tokens from her youth – including several self-portraits, items from her newspaper cartooning days, behind-the-scenes on her turn to children’s books, and an entire room devoted to her odes to the classics – Gemma Bovery, Tamara Drewe, and Cassandra Darke. The Pompidou has a history of impressive exhibitions in this space – with Chris Ware and Riad Sattouf enjoying solid runs – and the Simmonds proudly follows the trend. 

It was with great shock and sadness that the legendary Korean artist Kim Jung Gi died in Paris at the too-young age of 47 in October 2022. The Korean Cultural Centre in the city is hosting a tribute exhibition coinciding with the opening of the Kim Jung Gi Museum in Paju, South Korea. Split into four rooms, the exhibition aims to celebrate the life and final days of a truly extraordinary talent. Probably the biggest highlight of the exhibition is being able to see up close one of the last live-drawn murals he ever produced. Having opened on November 16, 2023, this free exhibition concludes its run on March 16.

PRIVATE GALLERIES TO ASTONISH

Paris is the home for many a private art gallery and comics are a booming market – drawing many a private collector into parting with thousands of euros or more to take home a page of original art.

The biggest name seeing their art exhibitioned-for-sale is America’s own Daniel Clowes at the Galerie Martel (which closed on February 24), whose most recent book Monica won the Fauve d’Or at Angouleme. A small exhibition showing many of his cover illustration work with a smattering of comic pages, it’s still pretty cool seeing such pieces up close (…and the extraordinarily high prices the work fetches across the pond).

The most impressive gallery shows were held at the two Paris branches of Huberty & Breyne (they also have a location in Brussels, Belgium). The Matignon location is showcasing the Bouncer art of François Boucq (until March 9), and the Chapon gallery is displaying the original pages of Matthias Lehmann‘s critically acclaimed 2023 graphic novel Chumbo (until March 16). You could spend hours in each. Incredible stuff.

A surprise pop-up exhibition for the late great Eiko Hanamura was a beautiful distraction. The shojo and josei pioneer had no original artwork on display but many gorgeous short-run specialty prints were being showcased in the gallery. Now closed, it ran from February 8 to 17 at Achetez de l’Art.

BEYOND EXHIBITIONS

Paris isn’t just great for comics exhibitions, mind. It is always worth hopping around the book and comic shops (bedétheques). The Paris branches of Gilbert Joseph are scattered along the Boulevard Saint-Michel — not far from the reconstruction efforts on Notre Dame Cathedral. One branch is devoted to comics and has a splendidly broad selection of work for kids, adults, enthusiasts, and connoisseurs. 

And if you want vintage – why not swing by LaBD2collec on Rue Dante. A reseller with STACKS of vintage awesomeness.

Comics aren’t confined to galleries and specialty bookshops either; major works get publicity in the Paris metro, and in supermarkets, you can – at the very least – buy the latest volume of Asterix alongside your wine.