Exhibiting now through March 13 at the Fondation Cartier Pour L'art Contemporain in Paris, France is Transe-Forme, an astonishingly ornate and beautiful gallery showing of the works of Jean Giraud, better known to comic book readers as Moebius. The exhibition includes paintings, comics work, sketches and an animated film, and focuses on the recurring theme of metamorphasis in Moebius' work, hence the name Transe-Forme. It seems unlikely that any other comics creator has seen a celebration of his work as impressive and awe-inspiring as Moebius' Paris show, pictures of which you can see below.


Beloved for works including The Incal, Blueberry, Arzach and Silver Surfer: Parable, as well as contributions to films like Alien, The Fifth Element and Tron, Moebius is one of the most influential illustrators of the 20th century. You can see the echoes of his work in Star Wars, Blade Runner, and the films of Hayao Miyazaki, not to mention countless comic book artists.

giarud's style varies greatly from character to character, as well as sometimes from panel to panel. well versed in conveying different graphic atmosphere through his rendering--the minutely detailed to the rapidly sketched--his ability to dramatically adapt to a specific tone of the narrative is further facilitated by the wide variety of medium he employs which include etchings, watercolour, gouache and black and white illustrations.


Fittingly, Transe-Forme spotlights Moebius' original work, spanning his early career to the present day. As you can see from the photographs taken by Olivier Ouadah for the Foundation Cartier and published on Designboom, the artwork becomes even more breathtaking in the elegant space.

a collaboration between moebius and the fondation cartier, the first part of the exhibition in the jean nouvel-designed building is an account of six major characters from the artist's comics. featuring a curvy display table unit that recalls characters of a moebius strip defines the ground level space while directing the viewers along a thematic route. the long glazed facades that flank the room is outfitted with wall length screens depicting a blown up drawing by giraud.

More From ComicsAlliance