"J'ai pleuré devant la fin d'un manga"
Neïla Czermak Ichti
Natacha Donzé
Eliza Douglas
Ram Han*
Oliver Laric
Samuel Spone*
Emma Stern*
Petra Szemán*
Gaia Vincensini
École municipale des beaux-arts / Galerie Édouard-Manet, Gennevilliers
18.01 - 16.03.2024
Opening: 17.01.2024
exhibition curated by CRO
(Félicien Grand d'Esnon & Alexis Loisel-Montambaux)
Public discussion with Petra Szemán
moderated by CRO
15.03.2024, 2:30pm
supported by New Castle University
Exhibition views, "J'ai pleuré devant la fin d'un manga" chapitre 1, École municipale des beaux-arts / Galerie Édouard-Manet, Gennevilliers, 2024. From left to right: Emma Stern, Samuel Spone, Gaia Vincensini, Eliza Douglas, Neïla Czermak Ichti, Natacha Donzé, Oliver Laric. Courtesy of the artists. Photos : Aurélien Mole.
Exhibition views, "J'ai pleuré devant la fin d'un manga" chapitre 1, École municipale des beaux-arts / Galerie Édouard-Manet, Gennevilliers, 2024. From left to right: Natacha Donzé, Ram Han, Petra Szemán. Courtesy of the artists. Photos : Aurélien Mole.
*New works produced for the exhibition.
The galerie Édouard-Manet is delighted to present the first chapter of the exhibition "J'ai pleuré devant la fin d'un manga" ("I cried at the end of a manga").
In today's hyper-connected, saturated, deafening world, manga culture - drawn, animated, electronised - has crossed the borders of Japan to establish itself for millions of people as new interfaces for apprehending the world. Entire generations learned to tame pokemons, project their empathy and appreciation of kawaii onto pixelated digital beings, and cosplay new mythological figures with quasi-divine powers.
This new cultural grammar has integrated our habitus, our sense of community, the interstices of our imagination and profoundly transformed our aesthetic conceptions. Initially reduced by its detractors to gory brutality, perverse sexuality and vile imagery, manga culture has become a fertile matrix, a space for empathy, projection and self-construction.
This exhibition is the first of its kind in French institutions. A second chapter will open at the Château Centre d’Art Contemporain d’Aubenas, in November 2024.
Image: Petra Szemán, Openings!!!, 2022 ©Petra Szemán, courtesy of the artist.
Exhibition title: from the lyrics of Lundi, by Johan Papaconstantino.