Oct. 12, 2010 ? March 13, 2011 - Fondation Cartier pour l'art ...

Oct. 12, 2010 › March 13, 2011

From October 12, 2010 through March 13, 2011 the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain presents MŒBIUS- 

TRANSE-FORME, the fi rst major exhibition in Paris devoted to the work of Jean Giraud, known by his pseudonyms Gir 

and Mœbius. An icon of incomparable stature in the world of comics, an inventor of extraordinary forms and a brilliant 

cartoonist, Mœbius is an artist who goes beyond the traditional boundaries of the discipline. Following the artist’s wishes, this 

exhibition explores the theme of metamorphosis, a leitmotif that runs throughout his comics, drawings, and fi lm projects. In 

relation to this theme, the exhibition also presents the fi rst 3-D animated fi lm directed by the artist, La Planète encore, along 

with the stories from the original comic boards. With landscapes and characters in perpetual transformation, his drawings 

explore the boundaries of the unconscious and reveal an imaginary and fantastic world. Th rough often sudden and disturbing 

metamorphoses of a character or a setting, Mœbius reveals a world where appearances are not as stable as they may seem. 

MŒBIUS AND THE FONDATION 

CARTIER POUR L’ART 

CONTEMPORAIN 

Th e exhibition MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME 

arose from a long collaboration between Mœbius 

and the Fondation Cartier pour l’art 

contemporain, who presented his work for the 

fi rst time in 1999 as part of 1 monde réel, an 

exhibition that explored the connections between 

reality, fi ction and science fi ction. At that time, 

two unpublished notebooks of the artist, which 

are now part of the Fondation Cartier collection, 

were on display. Th e exhibition also provided 

the opportunity for the artist to converse with 

the philosopher and urbanist Paul Virilio, 

as well as with the astronaut Jean-Pierre 

Haigneré at the Mir space station. 

A POLYMORPHIC ŒUVRE 

For some fi fty years, Jean Giraud has developed 

a broad palette of styles ranging from the detailed 

realism of Blueberry to the fantastical drawings of 

Arzach and 40 days dans le Désert B. He is 

particularly renowned for his futuristic landscapes 

populated by hybrid creatures and 

ultrasophisticated spaceships, where the strange 

and uncanny may lead to daydreams of a 

metaphysical nature. Known throughout the 

world, his work has been profoundly infl uential 

over the past thirty years in the realms of 

science fi ction, animation, advertising, 3-D fi lm, 

video games and movies. Major fi lm directors 

with whom he would later collaborate such 

as Luc Besson (Th e Fifth Element, Diva), 

James Cameron (Abyss, underwater creatures), 

Steven Lisberger (Tron, costumes), Ridley 

Scott (Alien, costumes) and René Laloux (the 

animated feature fi lm Les Maîtres du temps) 

fi rst became familiar with his work through 

his drawings. 

A CHANGING ARTISTIC IDENTITY 

Gir and Mœbius, both pseudonyms of 

Jean Giraud, refl ect his own shifting artistic 

identity. Jean Giraud fi rst used the name “Gir” in 

1963 when he collaborated with Jean-Michel 

Charlier on Blueberry, a highly popular Western 

comic series. At that same time, he published his 

fi rst series in Hara-Kiri under the pseudonym 

Mœbius, a name inspired by the German 

mathematician and astronomer famous for 

discovering the Mœbius strip. Th e artist views 

the dual nature of his identity as similar to 

the way that the Mœbius strip joins its two 

sides to form a continuum. “Going from Giraud 

to Mœbius, I twisted the strip and changed 

dimension. I was the same, yet I was another. 

3 

Mœbius is the product of my duality. 1 ” Gir and 

Mœbius each exist within their own world views 

and their own styles. Gir is the author of classic 

Hollywood Westerns, whereas Mœbius explores 

the worlds of dreams and science fi ction. 

Gir adheres to the traditional narrative forms 

of comic strip art, Mœbius, on the other hand, 

transgresses these conventions. While Gir 

uses photography and fi lm as his source to 

portray landscape and characters of the 

West with baroque details, Mœbius employs 

techniques related to the surrealist dessin 

automatique to create a world in constant fl ux. 

1. JEAN GIRAUD, MŒBIUS / GIRAUD : HISTOIRE DE MON DOUBLE, 

ÉDITIONS 1, PARIS, 1999. 

MUTATING FORMS 

Th roughout Mœbius’ work run many stories 

of ever-changing bodies. In Le Garage hermétique, 

Le Monde d’Edena and L’Incal, forms are porous 

and constantly change from one state to another. 

Human, animal, plant and mineral elements 

dissolve and merge. Mœbius’s metamorphoses 

include any number of incongruous disruptive 

mutations: beings become petrifi ed and 

disintegrate, men become women, the young 

turn old, spaghetti-like forms or hideous 

protuberances invade the body. Metamorphosis 

is not only present in the artist’s drawings, it also 

plays a key role in the creative process that 

Mœbius has developed over the years. 

Th e desert, dreams, meditation and crystals 

are all considered by the artist as “metaprocesses” 

that stimulate a release from bodily experience, 

a transgression of artistic conventions, the 

creation of new forms through trance. 

Th ese intense experiences lead him to explore 

the bizarre and the fantastic, and in his drawings, 

challenge the laws of reason and plausibility. 

SCIENCE AND THE PURSUIT 

OF METAPHYSICS 

While the fi rst part of the exhibition presents 

the characters and worlds of Mœbius through 

an exhibition design that calls to mind the 

well-known eponymous strip, the second part, 

presents drawings in which anything seems 

possible. Here, metamorphoses might occur 

suddenly or develop sequentially, yet they always 

arise unpredictably. In accordance with the 

artist’s desires, his works are presented 

thematically and organized in groups: 

metamorphic, abstract and hybrid forms; 

“metaprocesses” perceived as a means to facilitate 

transformation; and metamorphosis 

as it appears in his drawings. As exemplifi ed 

in his paintings of organic and chaotic forms, 

as well as the drawings of Le chasseur déprime 

and 40 days dans le Désert B., Mœbius’ fascination 

for transformation reveals his passion for science 

and the observation of nature. An afi cionado 

of astrophysics, genetics and philosophy, 

his pursuit of metaphysics and his inquiry 

into the origins of the universe and of humans 

transpires in the realm of the imagination. 

Conceived as a continuation of the exhibition, 

the catalogue discloses a new aspect of 

Mœbius’ scientifi c concerns through a previously 

unpublished interview with Michel Cassé 2 

in which “interwoven dreams” become a “world 

without hope.” 

2. DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AT THE COMMISSION FOR ATOMIC AND 

ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES AND ASSOCIATE RESEARCHER AT THE INSTITUT 

D’ASTROPHYSIQUE IN PARIS. 

LA PLANÈTE ENCORE 

3-D ANIMATED FILM 

La Planète encore is a spectacular 3-D animation 

based on one of the artist’s comics, screened 

exclusively at the Fondation Cartier. 

A collection of the original panels of the comic 

strip is also on display. Co-directed by Mœbius 

and Geoff rey Niquet and produced by 

AngeleFine and Mœbius Productions, with 

the support of BUF Compagnie, it is the result 

of an extraordinary adaptation of the artist’s 

drawings. 

DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS AND FILMS 

Produced in collaboration with Mœbius 

Productions, the exhibition at the Fondation 

Cartier presents a survey of the artist’s work, 

including original notebooks, comic book panels, 

and paintings, as well as several previously 

unpublished drawings. A sound installation 

mixing the artist’s voice with sound eff ects 

inspired by Mœbius’ work guides the visitor 

through his many worlds. In addition 

to the animated fi lm La Planète encore, another 

fi lm entitled MÉTAMŒBIUS, Giraud-Mœbius 

Métamorphoses, off ers an unexpected portrait 

of the artist as an actor in his own screenplay. 

Refl ecting the prolifi c nature of Mœbius’ 

creativity, the exhibition itself will transform 

during the month of January, presenting new 

drawings and works. With over 400 pieces, 

MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME provides the 

visitor with the unique opportunity to discover 

the work of this remarkable artist who has 

continuously pushed back the limits of form 

in search of new horizons.

MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME 

THE EXHIBITION — PART ONE 

Jean Giraud has given birth to a multitude 

of diverse characters who have continued 

to develop and change throughout his work 

in comic albums, isolated drawings and fi lm 

projects. Th is exhibition presents the six major 

characters of the comics of Mœbius showing 

how they evolve within each of the unique 

imaginary worlds the artist has created for them. 

Lieutenant Blueberry adventures fearlessly 

through the wild landscapes of the Far West; 

Arzach fl ies silently on the back of his bird over a 

land full of wonders and dangers; Major Grubert 

errs nonchalantly through the mysterious world 

of Garage Hermétique; the reluctant hero John 

Difool stumbles haphazardly upon the Incal, 

a mystical crystal that imbues him with 

incredible powers; and Stel and Atan fl y off to 

the chaotic paradise of the planet Edena. 

In the worlds created by Mœbius, instability and 

change dominate, strange and improbable events 

occur, and characters are radically transformed. 

Mœbius’ graphic styles also vary greatly, may 

shift within or between panels from the minutely 

detailed to the rapidly sketched. He is also one 

of the rare authors to include himself so 

frequently as a character within his own comic 

strips and portray himself in such great diversity 

of self-portraits. Here too, the drawing style 

varies considerably from classical representation 

to caricature. In the most recent album of Inside 

Mœbius, he represents himself as the subject 

of many astounding metamorphoses. 

SELF-PORTRAITS 

In 1973, he depicted 

himself for the fi rst time 

as the main character 

of a comic strip entitled 

La Déviation. In this 

beautifully rendered 

black and white strip, 

Mœbius takes off with 

his wife and daughter on 

a vacation that takes a disturbing detour as they 

enter into a strange and terrifying world. Mœbius 

also frequently includes himself as a character 

amongst other fi ctional characters in strips such 

as L’Homme du Ciguri and Les Réparateurs. Here, 

he represents himself as an author seated at his 

drawing table, interacting with his own fi ctional 

characters, creating a sort of mise-en-abyme. 

More recently, he has created the series Inside 

Mœbius, surrounding himself with his own heroes 

in the imaginary landscape of the Désert B. 

“B standing for ‘bis’… Th e second world… 

Where my double is all powerful. 1 ” Rather than 

following the narrative conventions of traditional 

comics, this series presents itself as an artist’s 

diary, a humorous introspection that draws from 

autobiographical and current events. 

For Mœbius, “Inside Mœbius is constructed 

through improvisation, through emotion… 2 ” 

In the last volume of the series published in 

2010, the automatic nature of his drawings is 

revealed through the use of intricate lines to 

create strange forms and disturbing 

metamorphosis, expressing even more intensely 

the author’s unconscious. 

1. INSIDE MŒBIUS, VOLUME II, PAGE 70. MŒBIUS PRODUCTIONS, PARIS 2006. 

2. INSIDE MŒBIUS, VOLUME II, PAGE 5. MŒBIUS PRODUCTIONS, PARIS 2006. 

4 

BLUEBERRY 

One of the most famous 

western comics recounts 

the adventures of Mike 

Steve Donovan, alias 

Blueberry, a lieutenant in 

the US Army. Blueberry 

lacks discipline and is a 

rebellious nature, but has 

a profound sense of 

justice that leads him into his adventures. To 

create the detailed landscape and costumes of 

Blueberry, the author researched the history of 

the 19 th -century American West. He was also 

strongly infl uenced by fi lm and gave his hero the 

traits of Jean-Paul Belmondo, fi lm icon of 1960s 

French New Wave cinema. As the character 

evolved, he took on the appearance of numerous 

celebrities from Keith Richards to Charles 

Bronson while keeping however his original, 

famous broken nose. Blueberry’s physical traits 

and expressions changed as his character matured 

and his personality gained new depth. Far from 

being inexperienced and lacking depth, he 

progressively becomes a more complex, engaging 

character both wild and melancholy. 

In 1963, Jean Giraud, using the pseudonym Gir, 

created Blueberry with Michel Charlier. 

Originally published in Pilote, this series which 

made him famous comprises some thirty albums 

produced between 1963 and 2005. Following the 

death of Michel Charlier in 1989, Jean Giraud 

produced the series alone. 

ARZACH 

A mysterious character, 

Arzach is an 

extraterrestrial warrior 

who travels on a halforganic, 

half-mechanical 

hybrid bird on a planet 

beyond the confi nes 

of time and space. 

His planet is covered by 

a large desert, dotted with bushes and lush oases, 

resembling the landscapes of the American 

Southwest and Mexico, that so fascinate the 

artist. At times, killer grass that grows in long 

spaghetti-like blades threatens the characters. 

Although Arzach does not undergo sudden 

or dramatic metamorphoses, he does physically 

change during his adventures while retaining his 

defi ning physical characteristics. His name also 

changes and he is alternatively known as Arzach, 

Harzach and Arzak. Appearing as an androgynous 

or feminine avatar, Arzach served as the basis for 

the development of a character called Starwatcher. 

Published between 1975 and 1976 in the 

magazine Métal hurlant, the 35 color panels that 

comprised the fi rst Arzach album were arranged 

into fi ve short stories with neither dialogue nor 

a conventional narrative line. Mœbius explored 

the aesthetic possibilities off ered by the new 

printing techniques of the time, abandoning the 

traditional method of colorizing black-and-white 

panels and working directly in color. Arzach 

was also the subject of a Flash animation series 

entitled Arzach Rhapsody which was broadcast on 

French television. Several episodes, along with 

their storyboards are presented in the exhibition. 

In 1990, Mœbius worked on the fi lm 

Starwatcher, one of the fi rst projects to use 

computer graphics animation. An excerpt from 

the pilot is being screened at the exhibition. 

MAJOR GRUBERT 

Located on three levels 

inside an asteroid, the 

Airtight Garage is a 

world created by Major 

Grubert who must 

oversee and guard it 

from his spaceship 

Le Ciguri, which in his 

absence is under the 

charge of his companion Malvina. 

Th e fi rst level is a zone of chaos, the second, 

allows for the embodiment of more stable forms, 

in particular, the Désert B, and the last level is 

reserved for the mechanics and technology. With 

the exception of a few spies and enemies who 

covet this universe, the residents of the Airtight 

Garage are both unaware of belonging to this 

closed world as well as of the existence of Major 

Grubert and Le Ciguri. Th e main characters 

are transformed in this world in constant fl ux 

as when, for example, Major Grubert loses 

his helmet and dons the cape of a superhero, 

or when Barnier is transformed into a woman. 

Conceived as a farcical, satirical character, Major 

Grubert fi rst appeared in 1979 in the pages of 

the magazine Pilote. He was later taken up in a 

summer section of the newspaper France-Soir in 

a strip about the French on vacation. Beginning 

as series of very short strips—the narration never 

following a linear plot line—the adventures of 

Major Grubert became increasingly complex, 

giving the character more importance and greater 

psychological depth. In the album that 

culminates this series, Le chasseur déprime (2007), 

the dignifi ed Major is a depressed bounty hunter, 

out for his own head. Th e unpublished notebook 

that served as a basis for this work was originally 

presented at the Fondation Cartier as part of the 

1 monde réel exhibition (1999). For the opening 

pages of Le chasseur déprime, Mœbius reworked 

some of the drawings from this notebook using 

computer graphics software. For the current 

exhibition, the artist is presenting another 

previously unpublished notebook. Replete with 

strange metamorphoses, Le Carnet du Major 

relates the metaphysical thoughts and refl ections 

of the Major Grubert as he responds to the 

questions of those who come to visit him in his 

“offi ce of oracles” in the Désert B. 

JOHN DIFOOL 

John Difool, Class “R” 

Private Detective, is the 

main character in the 

Incal series which takes 

place in a distant dark 

future. Th e only hope for 

this universe, embattled 

by many factions, is Th e 

Dark Incal and the Light 

Incal. Tiny beings in the 

shape of a pyramid, they are respectively black 

and white. Once united, these two elements form 

the Incal, a mysterious and super powerful being 

that has chosen John Difool, an anti-hero par 

excellence, to fi ght an evil force that threatens the


universe. His battle against this force changes his 

fate, sometimes against his will, and triggers 

his ultimate transformation. Th is science fi ction 

series was born out of a collaboration between 

Mœbius and Alejandro Jodorowsky on a fi lm 

adaptation of Dune that was never produced. Th e 

fi rst panels of L’Incal appeared in Métal Hurlant 

in 1980, followed by six volumes published 

between 1981 and 1988. For this series, Mœbius 

worked at the rapid rate of one panel a day, 

creating a revolutionary narrative and drawing 

style in the fi eld of science fi ction comics. 

STEL AND ATAN 

Space travelers, Stel and 

Atan are two androgynous 

repairmen, each with 

his own specialty: Stel 

can repair any kind 

of machine following his 

mere instincts, Atan 

possesses a special 

sensitivity for psychic 

phenomena. Arriving on 

a deserted planet, both are 

drawn to a pyramid that 

turns into a spaceship and 

takes them to the planet 

Edena, a mythical and 

strange place where 

dream and reality merge. 

By eating an apple, they rediscover ancestral 

nutritional habits and are sexually transformed 

returning to their true human nature: Stel 

becomes a man and Atan, a beautiful woman, 

taking the name Atana. Th is sexual transformation 

separates the two heroes who continually seek 

to reunite with one another. During their many 

adventures, they encounter the Pif-Pafs who 

are led by the evil Paterne, a being in constant 

transformation. 

Th e series Le Monde d’Edena began with the 

publication of the album Sur l’Étoile (1983), 

a commission of the car manufacturer Citroën as 

a gift to their distributors. Following Les Jardins 

d’Edena, La Déesse, Stel, and Sra, the fi nal volume, 

Les Réparateurs, is a collection of short stories 

including La Planète encore. 

Mœbius and Geoff rey Niquet 

LA PLANÈTE ENCORE, 2010 

France, 8’ 

In this short story, Stel and Atan land their 

rocket on a desert planet and guided by a 

strange and mysterious sensation, discover an 

abandoned temple. While Stel conducts 

technical tests, Atan enters a dream where he 

meets a group of extraordinary creatures who 

begin a dance that verges on a trance. Th is 

reawakens the planet where life emerges once 

again. Stel and Atan escape from the planet 

as it returns to life. A short story created and 

illustrated by Mœbius, La Planète encore has 

been adapted into a 3-D animated fi lm directed 

by Mœbius and Geoff rey Niquet. Produced by 

AngeleFine and Mœbius Productions, with 

the support of BUF Compagnie, it is screened 

in preview at the Fondation Cartier pour 

l’art contemporain. Th e original comic boards 

of the strip are also on display. 

7 

THE EXHIBITION — PART TWO 

Mœbius’ œuvre is not merely an unending 

escapade through the far reaches of the 

imagination. It is a continual refl ection on the 

reality around us, on humanity and our ability 

to create, on the laws of nature, the universe and 

its origins. Th roughout his career, the mystery of 

existence has both fascinated and inspired him, 

and is refl ected in his work. Mœbius is fascinated 

by a fundamental existential question: is there 

a “great architect” who has predetermined 

everything, or does the universe have an 

intelligence of its own that organized the 

evolution of the world in a few seconds, or over 

a period of several light years? 

Mœbius said that he lives “the Big Bang in his 

work.” His abstract paintings—chaotic magma, 

shapeless matter—represent the inception, the 

potential of all transformations, as the universe 

and life are in continual mutation. His hybrid 

creatures refl ect his interest in genetics and 

modifi ed cells, as well as in sexual ambiguity 

and androgyny. Abstract and hybrid forms 

express his fascination for the infi nitely small 

and the infi nitely large destined to be lost 

in the mystery of the cosmos. 

To contemplate the infi nite, one must enter 

certain states through meditation and the 

extreme experience of trance and explore 

cerebral and physical space (dreams and desert, 

respectively), all of which are “metaprocesses” 

that facilitate the perception of mutations, 

as well as induce them. Th ese conditions 

are conducive to “creating a panic break in the 

concept of the stability of forms,” enabling 

the artist to open up “a pocket of potential 

discovery” and stimulate his creative impulse. 

His sequential drawings upset the laws of 

nature and create new connections between the 

mineral, plant, animal and human worlds. 

His scenes of sudden transformations are open 

to all (im)possible variations. Th e astrophysicist 

Michel Cassé has said, “Mœbius’ work comes 

from observation. No need for instruments. 

His microscopes, his spectrometers are cerebral.” 

METAMORPHIC FORMS 

Displayed along a single wall, abstract and 

fi gurative works illustrate the Mœbiusian 

concept of metamorphic forms. Th e organic and 

hybrid forms in the drawings, comic boards and 

paintings presented on this wall are infl uenced 

by natural forms, that have been closely observed 

by the artist for many years. Ever since 

childhood, Mœbius has been fascinated by 

stones, plants and fl owers which he has recently 

begun to photograph in close-ups, thus rendering 

them almost unrecognizable as such. Th e abstract 

paintings presented in this section clearly 

refl ect this desire to depict organic forms with a 

precision that is quasi-documentary. Mœbius 

fi rst began experimenting with abstraction in 

the early 1980s when he discovered the artistic 

possibilities of new technologies and began to 

create drawings using the Amiga, one of the 

fi rst computers of that period. Infl uenced by the 

Surrealist technique of dessin automatique, he 

used the circular movements of the computer 

mouse as a means of exploring the unconscious, 

creating a series of ovoid and labyrinthine 

drawings. While only a few printouts of his early


experiments remain, Mœbius continued this 

work into the late 80s and 90s using gouache and 

acrylic to create paintings that resemble organs, 

microscopic creatures or mutating cells. 

Mœbius uses a similar repertory of forms for the 

hybrid creatures and metamorphosis he creates 

in his personal notebooks and comic strips. In his 

unpublished notebook entitled Les Animaux de 

Mars, he invents a series of creatures native to 

the red planet, identifying them in the manner of 

a 19 th century zoologist. Some of these creatures 

present clear formal relationships with the 

abstract paintings on the same wall. Mœbius has 

also created hybrid creatures for several fi lm 

projects including, Th e Fifth Element by 

Luc Besson in which Mœbius created a diva 

with tentacles and James Cameron’s Abyss, 

for which he invented extraordinary underwater 

creatures. In his science fi ction comic strips, 

Mœbius combines these organic forms 

with mechanical ones to depict land vehicles, 

spaceships and even entire cities. 

8 

METAPROCESSES 

Meditation in the desert, dream or trance-like 

states, the use of crystals, are all what Mœbius 

defi nes as “metaprocesses”—experiences that 

alter the perceptions of the characters in his 

stories and lead to spectacular metamorphosis. 

Th e desert occupies an important place in 

Mœbius’ œuvre. His early trips to the United 

States and Mexico, where he discovered the 

seemingly endless horizons and extraordinary life 

of the desert, were decisive in the evolution of his 

work. For the artist, the desert is far from barren, 

it is the scene of many dramatic transformations, 

provoked by psychological states such as 

meditation or dreaming, or substances such as 

crystals and hallucinogens. Like the blank page 

of the artist, it is the locus of all possibilities and 

the ideal place for meditation. As Mœbius has 

stated, “when one meditates, reality becomes 

a desert.” Th ese ideas are most clearly illustrated 

in the Désert B, an imaginary place invented 

by the artist and represented in many of his 

drawing and albums. 

During his travels to Mexico, Mœbius also 

became interested in the shamanic culture of 

Native Americans and it was there that he 

experimented with hallucinogenic mushrooms. 

Th is intense experience led him to consider the 

state trance as a means to create, and began to 

attempt to free his drawing from rational control. 

In his stories and drawings, he often shows his 

characters entering a state of trance brought 

about by hallucinogenic drinks, plants or through 

dance. Used by many Native American tribes 

for healing therapies, crystals are a recurrent 

subject in the work of Mœbius since the 

1980s-1990s. For the artist, crystals are like 

amplifi ers of energy, working to focus and 

strengthen our organisms. 

Mœbius has been profoundly infl uenced by 

Th e Art of Dreaming, a pivotal work by Carlos 

Casaneda that reveals the Mexican shaman don 

Juan’s teachings about using dreams to enter 

other levels of consciousness. Dreamlike settings 

become the scenes of physical metamorphosis 

and places where his plots thicken. Dreams 

overlap and merge with reality. Th e artists’ own 

identity is not immune to this process. 

“I no longer know if I am Jean Giraud in the 

midst of dreaming he is Mœbius, or Mœbius 

dreaming he is Gir. 1 ” 

1. JEAN GIRAUD, MŒBIUS / GIRAUD : HISTOIRE DE MON DOUBLE, 

ÉDITIONS 1, PARIS, 1999. 

METAMORPHOSIS 

In the work of Mœbius, metamorphosis often 

begins with the sudden appearance in a story 

of strange forms that grow and multiply on 

the main character, leading to extreme and highly 

improbable situations. Represented in through 

a sequence of panels or in an individual drawing, 

these transformations frequently involve 

sprawling shapes. In the world of Mœbius, 

creatures made of crystal and tentacles can take 

on human form, just as a being can turn into 

a series of sprawling ribbons. Androgyny and 

sexual metamorphosis are also important themes 

in the work of the artist—the most signifi cant 

being that of the space traveler Atan who 

turns into Atana upon her return to natural life 

on the planet Edena. 

In Mœbius’ work, metamorphosis can be the 

expression of a modifi cation in the main 

character’s inner consciousness but also an 

inexplicable and unexpected event. Mœbius defi es 

rationality, confronting his character with 

a sudden shock, a stimulus, that subjects him 

to a terrifying metamorphosis. 

His earliest work on the theme of metamorphosis 

is the sequence L’Eclosion (1975) in which a man 

is transformed into shapeless magma before 

crystallizing into an egg that eventually explodes, 

giving birth to a new man. Th is was the fi rst 

time that Mœbius used a sequence of drawings 

letting his hand guide him randomly across 

the paper to depict a form that changed as he 

went along. And thus, the instability 

of form reaches its climax. 

METAMŒBIUS, Giraud-Mœbius, 

Metamorphoses, 2010 

A fi lm written and directed by 

Damian Pettigrew 

Co-written by Jean Giraud and Olivier Gal 

France, 70’ (long version) and 52’ (short version) 

HDCAM – 16/9 

For the exhibition MŒBIUS-TRANSE- 

FORME, Director Damian Pettigrew and 

Producer Olivier Gal created with Jean Giraud 

an original documentary on the artist. 

Jean Giraud unveils himself in front of 

the imaginary camera of the fi lmmaker Govam 

Taboun, a character invented by Mœbius for 

the Désert B. 

Working with such an artist, it was necessary 

to move beyond the traditional documentary 

interview to enter into the realm of 

transformation, transposing the art of the comic 

strip to the screen. Th e screen tests, written and 

played out by Mœbius, reveal in an innovative 

manner the psyche of this great draftsman. 

In his private life as well as his public one, 

this multi-faceted artist moves us through his 

humanity, his curiosity and his extraordinary 

imagination. Th rough photo archives, 

rare works and animated fi lms, 

MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME explores 

the ephemeral; there is perhaps nothing more 

transient than beauty and life transformed 

on a simple visage.


EXCERPTS FROM THE CATALOG 

BIENVENUE DANS L’UNIVERS 

SANS ESPOIR 

DES RÊVES EMBOITÉS 1 

par Michel Cassé 

DIRECTEUR DE RECHERCHE AU COMMISSARIAT À L’ÉNERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ÉNERGIES ALTERNATIVES, 

CHERCHEUR ASSOCIÉ À L’INSTITUT D’ASTROPHYSIQUE DE PARIS 

(EXTRAIT) 

L’illimité est dans Mœbius. Il a infusé en poésie son expérience abstraite 

de l’altitude, de vol étrange par le tourment spatial. L’unité première qui 

est solitude absolue demeurait à jamais hurlante en son désert « B » absolu. 

Il projeta une explosion pour délivrer le un, chosifi er l’Azur, terrifi er le ciel 

et multiplier les êtres nécessaires. Ciel ! Tout fuit, les galaxies ont rompu 

les amarres. Le un a éclaté en multitude. L’univers s’écartèle. Le poseur de 

bombe du big-bang le voici démasqué. Mœbius s’est rendu complice du 

verbe « écarquiller » ! 

Parti à la recherche d’une extériorité rebelle, je 

m’enfonçais dans un grand bonheur sans âge, où 

les objets sont des ondes, les lumières décolorées, 

où bleu est un nombre. Ce grand bonheur s’appelait 

la physique. Je ne tardais pas à déchanter. 

L’abeille mathématique dessine le lieu des fl eurs, 

mais la physique c’est un canard qui pêche dans 

les remous 2 . 

Et le Soleil fi t arc entre nos yeux d’Arzach. 

« Dieu n’existe pas et Dirac est son prophète. » 3 

Certains (mathématiciens) s’expriment avec des 

rasoirs, des éclairs, des équations, d’autres (cosmologues) 

avec des cieux bleus ou sombres. Tels 

des Mœbius en herbe, ils bâtissent un récit à coup 

de planches d’univers. Dans les cénacles matérialistes 

/ quantiques s’écrit le scénario du big-bang. 

Les astrophysiciens, bien carrés dans leur fauteuil, 

calculent leurs rêves d’étoile. Ils n’ont pas peur de 

la distance, pas plus que le chirurgien n’a peur du 

sang car les distances sont des n’ombres. Ils ne vont pas à pied, comme 

Mœbius dans la nébuleuse d’Orion 4 . À longueur d’équations, ils rendent 

manifeste la connexion naturelle du microcosme quantique et du macrocosme 

cosmologique. Mais les deux cariatides de la physique, la racinienne Relativité 

Générale, marbre de physique, et la rimbaldienne Mécanique Quantique, 

écumante pythie, se regardent en chiens de faïence. Ils mettent un mouchoir 

sur le trouble quantique, un bâillon sur la bouche d’ombre délirante, insidieuse 

et ondulante 5 et se rassurent en disant comme Richard Feynman que 

les particules sont cinglées, mais au moins toutes de la même manière. 

Toi ciel la nuit tu fais ton bleu et toi, Mœbius, du texte du ciel, tu vois la 

ponctuation étoilée et, liant les points, tu fais constellations de questions. 

Tu construis le récit des origines comme un rêve ésotérique. Un plein musée 

en désert sec (les mathématiques), une sulfureuse Tatiana Van Peebles 6 (la 

pulpeuse astrophysique), des lapins agressifs (les physiciens) aux oreilles en 

forme de bonnet d’âne, un crâne de cristal (la méta physique)… voilà quelques 

éléments qui illustrent l’atmosphère chamano-surréaliste de l’histoire 

jubilatoire de l’univers. 

12 


MÉTAMORPHOSES. 

UNE ANTHOLOGIE DES TRANSFORMATIONS 

ET AUTRES FAÇONS D’ÊTRE 

par Alberto Manguel 

(EXTRAIT) 

COPUBLICATION FONDATION CARTIER POUR 

L’ART CONTEMPORAIN, PARIS / ACTES SUD, ARLES 

HARDCOVER, 25 X 31.6 CM, 

304 PAGES, 

250 COLOR REPRODUCTIONS, 

49 € 

DATE OF PUBLICATION: OCTOBER 2010 

LIMITED EDITION, SIGNED BY THE ARTIST, 

PRESENTED IN A BOX SET 

A VERITABLE SURVEY OF THE MŒBIUS ŒUVRE, 

THE BOOK GATHERS MYTHICAL DRAWINGS, 

ORIGINAL BLACK-AND-WHITE PLATES, 

COMPOSITIONS IN HYPNOTIC COLORS, 

UNPUBLISHED STORYLINES AND OFFERS THUS 

PASSAGE INTO A MŒBIESQUE WORLD. 

IT ALSO INCLUDES A TEXT-INTERVIEW BY MICHEL 

CASSÉ AND AN ANTHOLOGY OF TEXTS ON 

THE THEME OF METAMORPHOSIS COLLECTED 

BY ALBERTO MANGUEL PRESENTING A UNIQUE 

LITERARY MEANDER THROUGH 

THE POLYMORPHIC UNIVERSE OF MŒBIUS. 

« Une métamorphose sans fi n me semblait la loi du monde », a écrit Ernest 

Renan dans son Séminaire d’Issy. Cette remarque, à l’évidence, s’applique à 

tout lecteur. Nos bibliothèques sont des catalogues de métamorphoses, non 

seulement des transformations célèbres de Mélusine, de Grégoire Samsa, 

du Dr Jekyll, de Pinocchio et de Dorian Gray, mais aussi des nôtres, à 

nous, lecteurs. Nos livres nous transforment et nous changeons avec nos 

livres, de sorte que jamais la même histoire n’est deux fois la même. Dans 

ce catalogue de métamorphoses, Kafka lu après 

(ou avant) Wilde n’est pas le Kafka lu avant (ou 

après) Stevenson. Sauf que, contrairement au serpent, 

nous conservons, superposées, toutes nos 

peaux précédentes. Il peut même arriver que nos 

dernières lectures rendent inintelligible le texte 

original. Comme dans l’image de Dante, plus 

jamais le papier que nous lisons ne sera blanc. 

Mœbius, qui tire son nom de ce ruban à face unique 

dont une surface se transforme sans fi n en 

l’autre et qui est, par essence, l’emblème de toutes 

les métamorphoses, a fait siens la géographie et le 

bestiaire de la transformation. Ses créatures sont 

constamment en train de devenir, en instance d’être 

autre chose. Elles sont elles-mêmes et cependant 

ne sont pas elles-mêmes : leurs avatars, leurs refl ets, 

leurs désirs et cauchemars renvoient à celui qui 

les rêve les images de leurs identités. Le monde 

de Mœbius existe en état de fl ux, comme s’il était 

perpétuellement en train de passer dans un autre 

mode d’être, comme s’il se muait en quelque chose 

de meilleur et plus étrange, comme s’il tendait vers 

une immortalité permanente. Il n’y a pas, dans son 

univers, qu’un seul état d’esprit : chaque existence est transformée par la 

pensée, comme en écho à la splendide proclamation de saint Paul (Première 

épître aux Corinthiens, XV, 51-53) : 

« Je vais vous dire un mystère : nous ne nous endormirons pas tous, mais tous 

nous serons changés en un instant, en un clin d’œil, à la dernière trompette, 

car elle trompettera et les morts seront relevés indestructibles, et nous, nous 

serons changés, car il faut que ce destructible soit vêtu d’indestructibilité et 

que ce mortel soit vêtu d’immortalité. » 

1. L’HUMOUR ET LA MUSIQUE DU VÉRIDIQUE SONT DANS LES NOTES. 

2. J’AVAIS CHERCHÉ LA RÉVOLUTION SUR LA TERRE COMME AU CIEL ET NE L’AVAIS TROUVÉE. MA MEUTE CHASSERESSE 

TRAQUAIT ALORS LE VIDE IDÉEL, L’ABSOLU NON-ÊTRE. VAINE QUÊTE DE VIDE. C’EST L’HISTOIRE LA PLUS TRISTE 

QU’IL M’AIT ÉTÉ DONNÉ DE VIVRE. FAUX VIDE AUSSI FAUX QUE LA RÉVOLUTION. LE VIDE LUI-MÊME N’EST POINT PARFAIT, 

MAIS, CONSOLATION, IL EST FLEURI. 

3. C’EST AINSI QUE LE TERRIBLE WOLFGANG PAULI EXPRIMAIT EN JUNGIEN SON ADMIRATION POUR LE PHYSICIEN ANGLAIS, 

VÉRITABLE PROPHÈTE DE L’ÉLECTRON. 

4. UN PETIT UNIVERS À LA SANTÉ DE TATIANA FARIA ET D’ÉTIENNE PARIZOT. 

5. LE GRAIN A BU L’ONDE ET L’ONDE A EMPORTÉ LE GRAIN. 

6. HOMONYMIE : P. J. PEEBLES, COSMOLOGISTE DISTINGUÉ, A LONGTEMPS BERCÉ MES RÊVES LÉGERS D’HÉLIUM.

MÉTAMORPHOSES 

UNE ANTHOLOGIE 

DES TRANSFORMATIONS 

ET AUTRES FAÇONS D’ÊTRE 

Alberto Manguel 

Notre Monde a été apparemment sous la Forme de Ver ou de Chenille : 

il est à présent sous celle de Chrysalide : 

la dernière Révolution lui fera revêtir celle de Papillon. 

CHARLES BONNET, LA PALINGÉNÉSIE PHILOSOPHIQUE, 1770


BIOGRAPHY 

Jean Giraud, alias Mœbius and Gir, is a legendary author and illustrator 

of comics. Born in 1938 in Nogent-sur-Marne, he attended Arts 

Appliqués in Paris from 1954 to 1956. He then left France to join his 

mother in Mexico where he stayed for eight months. Following the path 

of his teacher Jijé (Joseph Gillain) whose assistant he would become, 

Giraud immersed himself in the desert landscape. In 1960 he worked 

on an episode of Jerry Spring, La Route de Coronado. After working for 

several months on the magazine Hara-Kiri, in 1963 he and Jean-Michel 

Charlier — then editor-in-chief of the magazine Pilote — created the 

series Blueberry, which continued after the death of Charlier and to date 

numbers some thirty titles. During Giraud’s second trip to Mexico in 

1965, he discovered traditional shaman rituals that introduced him 

to other world views, and which would come to infl uence an entire 

aspect of his work. 

Co-founder in 1975 of the magazine Métal Hurlant and the publishing 

house Les Humanoïdes Associés, Jean Giraud used both venues to 

develop his unique style under the pseudonym Mœbius and published 

such works as Arzach (1976) and Le Garage hermétique (1979) that 

PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS 

1997-1998 

MŒBIUS INFINITO 

Magazzini Ferroviari ai Lolli, 

Palerme (1997) ; Palazzo Bagatti Valsecchi, 

Milan (1997) ; Fondazione Querini 

Stampalia, Venice (1998) 

2000 

TRAIT DE GÉNIE : GIRAUD/MŒBIUS 

Musée de la Bande dessinée, Angoulême 

GENIUS DES PHANTASTISCHEN 

Städtische Galerie, 

Erlangen (Germany) 

NAPOLI 2000 MŒBIUS 

Città della Scienza, Naples 

2001 

MYSTÈRE MONTROUGE 

Hôtel de ville de Montrouge 

2003 

THE WORLD OF MŒBIUS 

Art Museum, Kemi (Finland) 

GIRAUD – MŒBIUS 

Caserne Fonck, Liège (Belgium) 

2004 

WELTEN 

Badischer Kunstverein, 

Karlsruhe (Germany) 

MIYAZAKI / MŒBIUS, 

2 ARTISTES DONT LES DESSINS 

PRENNENT VIE 

Musée de la Monnaie, Paris 

2005 

MYTHES GRECS 

Galerie Mœbius Productions – 

Stardom, Paris 

JARDINS D’ÉROS 



2006 

BOUDHA LINE 



2007 

SICAF, Seoul International Cartoon 

and Animation Festival, Seoul 

15 

HOMMAGE AU MAJOR 



2009 

LE MONDE MŒBIUSIEN 

International Manga 

Museum, Kyoto 

ARZAK, DESTINATION TASSILI 

Ancienne poste des télégraphes, Paris 



Fondation Cartier pour l’art 

contemporain, Paris 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS 

1998 

100 MILLIONS D’IMAGES 

Musée d’art contemporain, Lyon 

1999 

1 MONDE RÉEL 

Fondation Cartier pour l’art 

contemporain, Paris 

2000 

LA DIVINA COMMEDIA 

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, 

Florence 

MAÎTRES DE LA BANDE DESSINÉE EUROPÉENNE 

UROPÉENNE 

Bibliothèque nationale de France, 

Paris 

2006 

DORMIR, RÊVER… ET AUTRES NUITS S 

CAPC musée d’Art contemporain, n, 

Bordeaux 

2009 

VRAOUM ! 

La Maison rouge, Paris 

PERFORMANCE 

AVEC LE TEMPS, 2003 

Mœbius et Tony Hymas 

Drawing concert 

Arcueil 

revolutionized the creative side of comics. Based on a screenplay by 

Alejandro Jodorowsky, he developed the adventures of John Difool in 

L’Incal (1980). Th e success of the series places him among the great 

innovators of the science fi ction genre. He then took part in numerous 

fi lm projects, working on several feature-length fi lms with noted 

directors. In the mid-1980s, Jean Giraud moved to the United States 

where he began to work on a new series Le Monde d’Edena that takes 

place in a dream-like world. From this series, the short story 

La Planète encore (1990), has been adapted as a 3-D animated fi lm 

and is on preview at the MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME exhibition. 

After his return to France, Giraud and his wife Isabelle founded their 

own publishing house Mœbius Productions – Stardom in 1997, which 

publishes notebooks, portfolios and prints, as well as most recently, 

volume 6 of the series Inside Mœbius and L’Arpenteur, the latest album 

of the adventures of Arzach. Over the past ten years, Isabelle has also 

organized many exhibitions of the Mœbius’ work throughout the world, 

including France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Finland, South Korea, 

Japan and Brazil. 

EXHIBITION CATALOGS 

1999 

1 MONDE RÉEL 

Éditions Fondation Cartier pour 

l’art contemporain 

2000 

TRAIT DE GÉNIE : GIRAUD / MŒBIUS 

Éditions musée de la Bande dessinée 

d’Angoulême 

2004 

MIYAZAKI / MŒBIUS, 2 ARTISTES DONT 

LES DESSINS PRENNENT VI 

Éditions BVI-France 



Copublication Fondation Cartier pour l’art 

contemporain and Actes Sud


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

ALTOR 

AS MŒBIUS 

COLLECTED SHORT STORIES 

7-volume series 

LE BANDARD FOU, 1974 

Mœbius’ œuvre has been 

Illustrations: Marc Bati; story: CASTERMAN 

Illustrations and story: Mœbius 

translated throughout Europe, Jean Giraud (volume 1 through 4 LE MONDE D’EDENA 

North America and Asia. and volume 7) 

5-volume series and 1 special edition CAUCHEMAR BLANC, 1977 

1. LE CRISTAL MAJEUR, 1986 

Illustrations and story: Mœbius Illustrations and story: Mœbius 

AS JEAN GIRAUD 

2. SUR L’ÎLE DE LA LICORNE, 1988 

1. SUR L’ÉTOILE, 1983 

3. LE SECRET D’AURELYS, 1990 

2. LES JARDINS D’EDENA, 1988 

ESCALE SUR PHARAGONESCIA, 1979 

DARGAUD 

4. LES IMMORTELS DE SHINKARA, 1992 3. LA DÉESSE, 1990 


BLUEBERRY 

7. LES AVENTURIERS DU TROU BLANC, 2003 4. STEL, 1994 

28-volume series and 1 special 

5. SRA, 2001 

THE LONG TOMORROW, 1989 

edition / Illustrations: Gir; Story: OTHER WORKS 

SPECIAL EDITION. LES RÉPARATEURS, 2001 Illustrations and story: 

Jean-Michel Charlier (volume 1 ICARE, 2005 

Dan O’Bannon and Mœbius 

through 23) and Gir (volume 24 Illustrations: Jirô Taniguchi; 

LITTLE NEMO 

through 28 and special edition) story: Mœbius 


LA CITADELLE AVEUGLE, 1989 

1. FORT NAVAJO, 1962 

Illustrations: Bruno Marchand Illustrations and story: Mœbius 

2. TONNERRE À L’OUEST, 1966 XIII, volume 18: 

(volume 1 through 4); 

3. L’AIGLE SOLITAIRE, 1967 

LA VERSION IRLANDAISE, 2007 story: Mœbius (volume 1 and 2) LES VACANCES DU MAJOR, 1990 

4. LE CAVALIER PERDU, 1968 

19-album series and 6 special edition 1. LE BON ROI, 1994 


5. LA PISTE DES NAVAJOS, 1968 Illustrations: Jean Giraud 

2. LE MAUVAIS ROI, 1995 

6. L’HOMME À L’ÉTOILE D’ARGENT, 1969 (volume 18); story: Jean Van Hamme 

COLLECTED ILLUSTRATIONS 

7. LE CHEVAL DE FER, 1970 

(volume 1 through 19 and 6 special ILLUSTRATED BOOKS 

CHAOS, 1991 

8. L’HOMME AU POING D’ACIER, 1970 editions) 

MADE IN L.A., 1988 

Illustrations: Mœbius 

9. LA PISTE DES SIOUX, 1971 


10. GÉNÉRAL TÊTE JAUNE, 1971 

CASTERMAN 

CHRONIQUES MÉTALLIQUES, 1992 

11. LA MINE DE L’ALLEMAND PERDU, 1972 JIM CUTLASS 

VENISE CÉLESTE, 1990 


12. LE SPECTRE AUX BALLES D’OR, 1972 7-volume series 


13. CHIHUAHUA PEARL, 1973 

Illustrations: Jean Giraud (volume 1 

WITH ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY 

14. L’HOMME QUI VALAIT 500 000 $, 1973 and 2) and Christian Rossi 

STARWATCHER, 1992 

L’INCAL 

15. BALLADE POUR UN CERCUEIL, 1974 (volume 3 through 7); 

Illustrations and story: Mœbius 6-volume series and 1 special edition 

16. LE HORS-LA-LOI, 1974 

story: Jean-Michel Charlier 

Illustrations: Mœbius; 

17. ANGEL FACE, 1975 

(volume 1 and 2) and Jean Giraud FUSIONS, 1995 

story: Alejandro Jodorowsky 

18. NEZ CASSÉ, 1980 

(volume 1 through 7) 

Illustrations and story: Mœbius 1. L’INCAL NOIR, 1981 

19. LA LONGUE MARCHE, 1980 

1. MISSISSIPPI RIVER, 1979 

2. L’INCAL LUMIÈRE, 1982 

20. LA TRIBU FANTÔME, 1982 

2. L’HOMME DE LA NOUVELLE-ORLÉANS, QUATRE-VINGT HUIT, 1990 

3. CE QUI EST EN BAS, 1983 

21. LA DERNIÈRE CARTE, 1983 

1991 

Illustrations and story: Mœbius 4. CE QUI EST EN HAUT, 1985 

22. LE BOUT DE LA PISTE, 1986 

3. L’ALLIGATOR BLANC, 1993 

5. LA CINQUIÈME ESSENCE, fi rst part: 

23. ARIZONA LOVE, 1990 

4. TONNERRE AU SUD, 1995 

OTHER WORKS 

GALAXIE QUI SONGE, 1988 

24. MISTER BLUEBERRY, 1995 

5. JUSQU’AU COU !, 1997 

SURFER D’ARGENT : PARABOLE, 1990 6. LA CINQUIÈME ESSENCE, second 

25. OMBRES SUR TOMBSTONE, 1997 6. COLTS, FANTÔMES ET ZOMBIES, 1998 Illustrations: Mœbius; 

part: LA PLANÈTE DIFOOL, 1988 

26. GERONIMO L’APACHE, 1999 

27. OK CORRAL, 2003 

7. NUIT NOIRE, 1999 

story: Stan Lee 

28. DUST, 2005 

SILENCE, ON RÊVE, 1991 

SPECIAL EDITION, APACHES, 2007 


LA JEUNESSE DE BLUEBERRY 


Illustrations: Gir (volume 1 

through 3); story: Gir (volume 1) 

and Jean-Michel Charlier 

(volume 2 through 6) 

1. LA JEUNESSE DE BLUEBERRY, 1975 

2. UN YANKEE NOMMÉ BLUEBERRY, 1978 

3. CAVALIER BLEU, 1979 

MARSHAL BLUEBERRY 


Illustrations: William Vance 

(volume 1 and 2) and Michel Rouge 

(volume 3); story: Gir 

1. SUR ORDRE DE WASHINGTON, 1991 

2. MISSION SHERMAN, 1993 

3. FRONTIÈRE IÈRE SANGLANTE, 2000 

18 

OTHER PUBLISHERS 

JERRY SPRING, volume 11: 

LA ROUTE DE CORONADO, 1961 

Éditions Dupuis 


Illustrations: Jijé (volume 1 

through 21) and Jean Giraud 

(volume 11); story: Philip 

(volume 9 through 12, volume 15 

through 17 and volume 21) 

BUFFALO BILL (special edition), 1968 

Éditions Fernand Nathan 

Illustrations: Jean Giraud 

and Jean Marcellin; 

story: George Fronvall 

GIR, 1974 

Éditions Futuropolis 

Illustrations and story: Jean Giraud 

LES HUMANOÏDES ASSOCIÉS 

ARZACH 

ARZACH, 1976 


LE MONDE DU GARAGE HERMÉTIQUE 

LE GARAGE HERMÉTIQUE, 1979 


L’HOMME DU CIGURI, 1995 


LE MONDE DU GARAGE HERMÉTIQUE 


Illustrations: Eric Shanower 

(volume 1 through 3) and Jerry 

Bingham (volume 4 and 5); 

story: Jean-Marc Loffi cier 

and Mœbius 

1. LE PRINCE IMPENSABLE, 1990 

2. LES QUATRE ROYAUMES, 1990 

3. LE RETOUR DU JOUK, 1991 

4. LES TERRES ALÉATOIRES, 1992 

5. LE SEIGNEUR D’ONYX, 1992


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

LE CŒUR COURONNÉ 




1. LA FOLLE DU SACRÉ-CŒUR, 1992 

2. LE PIÈGE DE L’IRRATIONNEL, 1993 

3. LE FOU DE LA SORBONNE, 1998 

LES YEUX DU CHAT, 1978 



GRIFFES D’ANGE, 1994 



LA CASTE DES MÉTA-BARONS,1992-2003 


Illustrations: Juan Gimenez; 


Series based upon the Métabaron 

character created by Mœbius 

in the L’INCAL series 

APRÈS L’INCAL, LE NOUVEAU RÊVE, 2000 



OTHER WORKS 

LES MAÎTRES DU TEMPS, 1982 


story: René Laloux 

MŒBIUS PRODUCTIONS – STARDOM 

BLUEBERRY’S, 1997 


story : Jean-Michel Charlier 

40 DAYS DANS LE DÉSERT B., 1999 


2001 APRÈS JÉSUS-CHRIST, 2000 


story: Jean-Luc Coudray 

UN AN DANS LA VIE 2001-2002, 2002 

Illustrations: Mœbius with 

Max Armanet 

INSIDE MŒBIUS 



1. INSIDE MŒBIUS, JOURNAL 

INTÉRIEUR, 2004 










INTÉRIEUR, 2010 

LE CHASSEUR DÉPRIME, 2008 


21 

ARZAK 

Current series 


1. DESTINATION TASSILI, 2009 

(preliminary version) 

2. L’ARPENTEUR, 2010 

(coedition Mœbius Productions – 

Stardom and Glénat) 

LIMITED EDITIONS 

MOCKBA : CARNET DE BORD, 1990 


FOLLES PERSPECTIVES : CARNET DE BORD 

1992-1995, 1996 


UNE JEUNESSE HEUREUSE, 1999 

Coedition Mœbius Productions – 

Stardom and the Fondation Cartier 

pour l’art contemporain 


IMPRESSION NUMÉRIQUE, 2000 


NOTEBOOKS 

LA FAUNE DE MARS, 2010 


LE MAJOR, 2010 


PORTFOLIOS 

RUMBA, 1997 


X-LIBRIS, 1998 


40 DAYS, 1999 


MOURIR ET VOIR NAPLES, 2000 


MYSTÈRE MONTROUGE, 2001 


ÉROS, 2005 


MARVEL COMICS (U.S.A.) 

SILVER SURFER : PARABLE, 1990 



OTHER PUBLISHERS 

LE BANDARD FOU, 1974 

Coedition Éditions du fromage 

and L’Écho des Savanes, 


LA MÉMOIRE DU FUTUR, 1983 

Éditions Gentiane-Ædena 



LES CARNETS VOLÉS DU MAJOR, 1983 

Éditions Schlirf book 


story: Th ierry Smolderen 

LA NUIT DE L’ÉTOILE, 1986 

Éditions Ædena 

Illustrations: Mœbius; ius; 

story: Marc Bati 

LES HISTOIRES DE MONSIEUR NSIEUR MOUCHE, 

1994 

Éditions Hélyode 


story: Jean-Luc Coudray oudray 

SURFER D’ARGENT : PARABOLE, RABOLE, 2001 

Éditions Soleil Prod d 



HISTOIRE D’UNE IDÉE : LE MOUVEMENT 

INTERNATIONAL DE LA CROIX-ROUGE 

ET DU CROISSANT-ROUGE DE 1859 

À NOS JOURS, 2007 

International Committee 

of the Red Cross 


ILLUSTRATED BOOKS 

Paulo Coelho, L’ALCHIMISTE, 1994 

Éditions Anne Carrière 


Bernard Werber, 

L’ARBRE DES POSSIBLES, 2003 

Le Grand livre du mois 


LIMITED EDITION 

VIAMOR, 1988 

Éditions Atelier Vertical 


PORTFOLIO 

LA CITÉ-FEU, 1985 

Éditions Ædena 

Illustrations: Geof Darrow 

and Mœbius 

WORKS ABOUT MŒBIUS 

(SELECTION) 

Numa Sadoul et Mœbius, 

MISTER MŒBIUS ET DOCTEUR GIR, 1976 

Éditions Albin Michel 

Numa Sadoul et Mœbius, 

ENTRETIENS AVEC MŒBIUS, 1991 

Éditions Casterman 

Jean Giraud, MŒBIUS / GIRAUD, 

HISTOIRE DE MON DOUBLE, 1999 

Éditions 1


FILMOGRAPHY 

FILM AND TELEVISION 

ADAPTATIONS 

CAUCHEMAR BLANC, 1981 

Aline Issermann 

10’, France 

Short fi lm adapted from the story 

CAUCHEMAR BLANC, 

L’Écho des Savanes, 1974 

CAUCHEMAR BLANC, 1991 

Mathieu Kassovitz 

11’, France 

Short fi lm adapted from the story 

CAUCHEMAR BLANC, 

L’Écho des Savanes, 1974 

ARZACH RHAPSODY, 2002 

Mœbius 

14 episodes; each 3’40’’, France 

Animated series inspired by 

the series ARZACH, 

Métal Hurlant, 1976 

BLUEBERRY, L’EXPÉRIENCE 

SECRÈTE, 2004 

Jan Kounen 

124’, France 

Full-length fi lm inspired by 

the albums LA MINE DE L’ALLEMAND 

PERDU (BLUEBERRY, volume 11) 

et LE SPECTRE AUX BALLES D’OR 

(BLUEBERRY, volume 12), 

Éditions Dargaud, 1972 

LA PLANÈTE ENCORE, 2010 

Mœbius and Geoff rey Niquet 

8’, France 

Short 3-D animated fi lm adapted 

from LA PLANÈTE ENCORE, 

a short story in a special edition 

of d’(À Suivre), 

Éditions Casterman, 1990 

FILM PROJECTS 

L’INCAL, 1984 

Mœbius, Alejandro Jodorowsky 

and Pascal Blais (director) 

Animation based on the album 

L’INCAL NOIR (L’INCAL, volume 1), 

Les Humanoïdes Associés, 1981 

INTERNAL TRANSFER, 1985 

Mœbius and Arnie Wong 

(director) 

Animation pilot for a fi lm based 

on the universe of Arzach 

STARWATCHER, 1990 

Mœbius 

3-D pilot for a full-length fi lm 

with computer graphics based on 

the Arzach character 

22 

FILM COLLABORATIONS ONS 

EL TOPO, 1970 

Alejandro Jodorowsky 

125’, Mexico 

Poster design 

S*P*Y*S , 1974 

Irvin Kershner 

87’, USA 

Poster design 

TOUCHE PAS À LA FEMME 

BLANCHE , 1974 

Marco Ferreri 

108’, France/Italy 

Poster design 

ALIEN, LE HUITIÈME 

PASSAGER, 1979 

Ridley Scott 

116’, USA 

Conceptual costume design gn 

TUSK, 1980 


119’, France 

Poster design 

MÉTAL HURLANT, 1981 

Gerald Potterton 

and Jimmy T. Murakami 

86’, Canada 

Adaptation of Arzach series 

LES MAÎTRES DU TEMPS , 1982 

René Laloux 

78’, France 

Character and storyboard creator 

TRON, 1982 

Steven Lisberger 

96’, USA 

Conceptual design of costumes, 

objects and set 

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, 1987 

Gary Goddard 

110’, USA 

Conceptual design of characters 

and props 

WILLOW, 1988 

Ron Howard 

125’, USA 

Conceptual design of characters 

and props 

ABYSS, 1989 

James Cameron 

165’, USA 

Conceptual design of 

the underwater creatures 

(designed in 1985) 

SANTA SANGRE, 1989 


123’, Italy/Mexico 

Poster design 

LITTLE NEMO, 1992 

Masanori Hata, Masami Hata 

and William T. Hurtz 

85’, Japan 

Creation of graphics, storyboard 

and collaboration on screenplay 

SPACE JAM, 1996 

Joe Pytka 

89’, USA 

Conceptual designs 

LE CINQUIÈME ÉLÉMENT, 1997 

Luc Besson 


Character and prop designer 

LE FILS DU FRANÇAIS, 1999 

Gérard Lauzier 

107’, France 

Poster design 

THRU THE MŒBIUS STRIP, 2005 

Glenn Chaika 

87’, USA 

Original story, original screenplay, enplay, 

conceptual designs 

FILM PROJECT 

DUNE, 1975 

Mœbius and Alejandro Jodorowsky ky 

Conceptual designs 

TELEVISION 

COLLABORATION 

IL ÉTAIT UNE FOIS… LES CONTES 

DE FÉES ILLUSTRÉS PAR LES PLUS 

GRANDES STARS DE LA BANDE 

DESSINÉE, 1997 

Fromental & Nielsen 


Animated adaptation of the story 

“Th e Little Match Girl” 

FILM DOCUMENTARIES 

ON MŒBIUS 

THE MASTERS OF COMIC BOOK ART, 

1987 

Ken Viola 

60’, USA 

MISTER GIR ET MIKE S. BLUEBERRY, 

1999-2000 

Damian Pettigrew 

55’, France 

MŒBIUS REDUX : 

A LIFE IN PICTURES, 2007 

Hasko Baumann 

70’, Germany 

JEAN VAN HAMME, WILLIAM VANCE 

ET JEAN GIRAUD À L’ABBAYE 

DE L’ÉPAU, 2007 

FGBL Audiovisuel 

70’, France 

MÉTAMŒBIUS, GIRAUD-MŒBIUS 

MÉTAMORPHOSES, 2010 

A fi lm written and directed by 

Damian Pettigrew, co-written by 

Jean Giraud and Olivier Gal 

Two versions : 52’ and 70’, France


NOMADIC NIGHTS 

Oct. › dec. 2010 

As part of the exhibition 

MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME, 

Nomadic Nights off er a program 

of special events. 

LAURENT GOLDRING AND ISABELLE SCHAD, FORMER GHOSTS + ZOLA JESUS US + XIU XIU THE BERG SANS NIPPLE 

“UNTURTLED” 

NOVEMBER 18 AT 8:30PM | CONCERT 

DECEMBER 9 AT 8:30PM | CONCERT 

OCTOBER 21 AT 8:30 P.M. | DANSE 

Th is event brings together three artists, each Th e Berg Sans Nipple, the Franco-American 

Conceived and choreographed by Laurent with somewhat dark and melancholic tones duo of Shane Aspegren and Lori Sean Berg 

Goldring and Isabelle Schad, Unturtled is whose paths are closely intertwined. 

founded in 2001, blends lilting electronic 

a solo based on visuals that combines drawing Th e musician Freddy Ruppert was keen melodies with powerful rhythms. Both 

and video. Treated as an integral component, to collaborate with Jamie Stewart, leader of drummers by training, the musicians use 

the costume is paramount, transforming Xiu Xiu, and Nika Roza Danilova, the singer samplers, bells, drums and keyboards to create 

the body into a moving image. 

with a haunting voice of Zola Jesus, to form 

Former Ghosts. 

songs as complex as they are seductive. 

VIVIANA MOIN, 

“LORETO MARTÍNEZ TRONCOSO 

“OÙ EST PASSÉE MADAME GONZALEZ?” 

EVENING OF ANIMATED FILMS ON THE THEME ET ABDELKADER BENCHAMMA 

OCTOBER 28 AT 8:30 P.M. | PERFORMANCE 

OF METAMORPHOSIS 

COMME UN SEUL HOMME” 

Costumes : Ophélie Estève 

NOVEMBER 25 AT 8:30PM | SCREENING 

DECEMBER 16 AT 8:30PM | CONFERENCE 

An Argentine dancer and choreographer living 

in Paris, Viviana Moin has for several years 

been a solo performance artist. Using fi ctional 

texts with strong autobiographical overtones, 

she intersperses dance sequences that fall 

somewhere between trance and Broadway, 

between the sublime and the ridiculous. 

FREEKA, SYLVAIN QUÉMENT AND SHOBOSHOBO 

NOVEMBER 4 AT 8:30PM | DRAWING AND MUSIC 

In conjunction with the exhibition 

MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME, 

Xavier Kawa-Topor, Director of the Abbaye 

de Fontevraud and a specialist in animation, 

presents an evening of short fi lms on the theme 

of metamorphosis. 

“POUR ALBERT AYLER” 

DECEMBER 2 AT 8:30PM | CONCERT 

With Zéno Bianu, Yves Buin, Jean-Luc 

| PERFORMANCE 

Conceived by Beatrice Méline. 

Th e artist Abdelkader Benchamma and the 

performance artist Loreto Martínez Troncoso 

present their worlds in a “cool conference.” 

Th at is, a conference without words where 

literature, art and cinema seem to hopscotch 

through the works of Ghérasim Luca, 

Jiri Kovanda, Bill Watterson (Calvin and 

Hobbes) and Artavazd Pelechian. 

| PERFORMANCE 

Shoboshobo, a cartoonist and musician, Freeka, a 

motion capture specialist, and Sylvain Quément 

of the Gangpol und Mit duo present a 

performance in which drawing and music 

are adroitly interlaced. 

Cappozzo, Jacqueline Caux, Simon Goubert, 

Sylvain Kassap, Joëlle Léandre, Ramon Lopez, 

Joe McPhee, Barre Philips and others. 

Hypertrophic vibrato, incandescent lyricism, 

Dionysian improvisations, a blaring primal 

scream all characterized the music of 

Albert Ayler. Found dead in New York’s East 

River in 1970, he was a dominant force in 

the free jazz movement of the 1960s. 

Assembling musicians and writers, this special 

event celebrates Ayler’s memory and art. 

An evening presented by the bassist 

Joëlle Léandre and the writer and journalist 

Franck Médioni. 

Programming 

Isabelle Gaudefroy assisted by Camille Chenet 

25 

PRACTICAL P 

INFORMATION 

Information I and reservation (essential) 

every e day except Monday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Tel. T +33 (0)1 42 18 56 72 

Admission: A 7,50 € / reduced rate*: 5,50 € 

* students, under 25, “carte Senior” holders, 

“Amis “ des Musées”, unemployed, ICOM members.


ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN 

November 2010 › March 2011 

In conjunction with the exhibition 

MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME, the Fondation 

Cartier pour l’art contemporain invites children 

to partake in original workshops and family 

visits every Wednesday and Saturday at 3pm. 

FAMILY VISITS 

DRAWING WITH MŒBIUS Œ S PUBLICATION C O 

SATURDAY NOV. 6, 13, 20 AND 27; DEC. 4, 11 WEDNESDAY DEC 1 AND JAN. 19 

AND 18; JAN. 8, 15, 22 AND 29; FEB. 5, 12, 19 Two special interactive illustration workshops COLORIAGES AVEC MŒBIUS 

AND 26; MARCH 5 

with Mœbius (by reservation only) 

In conjunction with the exhibition at the 

(age 7 and older, duration: 1:30). 


Fondation Cartier, Mœbius has collected 

Children and their parents go on a fun 

a series of previously unpublished drawings 

and creative visit of the exhibition 

METAMORPHOSIS THROUGH MOVEMENT in a coloring book. Following the publication 

with a special guide. 

WEDNESDAY DEC. 8 AND FEB. 9 

of a similar book by Beat Takeshi Kitano, 

Animation workshop with Laetitia Nurdin Coloriages avec Mœbius is the second in 

THE MAKINGS OF A HERO 

and Michaël Armellino, audiovisual 

a collection of coloring books published by 

WEDNESDAY NOV. 3 AND JAN. 12 

and fi lm animation directors. 

the Fondation Cartier. 

Costume workshop with Laurence Benoit, (age 7 and older, duration: 2:00). 

theater and fi lm costume designer 

Using “stop motion” technique, children Coloriages avec Mœbius 


create an animated sequence frame by frame, Cahier # 2 

Children create strange headgear that transforms depicting the transformation of the creatures 24 pages, 24 x 34 cm, 6,50 € 

them into weird creatures. A group portrait from they fi rst created in modeling clay. 

another planet documents the event! 

THE FUTURE IN MINIATURE 

WEDNESDAY NOV. 10 AND FEB. 16 

Scenery workshop with Stéphanie Lelong, 

graphic artist and creator of Do It Yourself 

TRANSFORM YOUR ARZACH CAPE 

WEDNESDAY DEC. 15 

Costume workshop with Laurence Benoit. 


Arzach’s outfi ts change all the time, but he 

PRACTICAL INFORMATION 

Advance booking essential (available one 

month prior to date of workshop) 

Tel. +33 (0)1 42 18 56 67 

info.reservation@fondation.cartier.com 

universes (age 7 and older, duration: 2:00). 

Children work with elements of a miniature 

always wears his famous cape. Children get 

to morph into the forms and colors of 

Admission: 7 € 

set using the colors and textures of 

Mœbius’ deserts. 

A GANG OF MONSTERS 

Mœbius’ worlds. 

EXPLORING THE PLANET OF COMICS 

WEDNESDAY DEC. 29; JAN. 26; MARCH 2 

Programming: 

Vania Merhar and Marine Drouin 

fondation.cartier.com /enfants 

WEDNESDAY NOV. 17; JAN. 5; AND MARCH 9 Comic book workshop with Th ibaut Sauviat, 

Drawing workshop with Eric Fourmestraux, artist/engineer (age 8 and older, duration: 2:00). 

artist and visual arts instructor. 

A greedy astronaut, a stealth lizard, 


a bewitching plant… Based on a science fi ction 

Children play “exquisite corpse.” A round-robin script, children use comics techniques to create 

where each child, in turn, draws a part of an 

animal or a machine. As the game unfolds, 

hybrid animals are born. 

their own episode. 

LET’S DANCE! 

WEDNESDAY NOV. 24; FEB. 2 AND 23 

Choreography with Stéphanie Rapin, 

dancer-performer (age 7 and older, duration: 1:30). 

Surrounded by Mœbius characters, children 

play with metamorphosis through a series 

of incongruous poses where the body becomes 

as light as air. 

26 

FONDATION.CARTIER.COM 

Th e Fondation Cartier website is devoted 

to Mœbius for the duration of the exhibition, 

serving as an extension of it. 

Here, the artist takes part in a 3-D animation, 

presents drawings as he creates them, shows 

previously unpublished panels and transforms 

aspects of the site to suit his imagination. 

News about the exhibition will be posted 

each week on the site through videos, 

makings of, and interviews. 

Th e Fondation Cartier is also accessible on 

Twitter (twitter.com/Fond_Cartier), 

Facebook (facebook.com/FondationCartier), 

Dailymotion (dailymotion.com/ 

FondationCartier), and iTunes U, where 

podcasts of exhibition visits are available.


EXHIBITION 

Th e exhibition was produced in collaboration 

with Mœbius Productions 

CHIEF CURATOR 

Hervé Chandès 

SCIENTIFIC CONSULTANT 

Isabelle Giraud 

CURATORS 

Grazia Quaroni and Leanne Scramone 

assisted by Camille Kotecki and Anna Milone 

EXHIBITION DESIGN 

Nathalie Crinière assisted by Gaëlle Dodain 

and Ghislain de Fommervault 

INSTALLATION COORDINATOR 

Christophe Morizot 

AUDIOVISUAL DESIGN AND PRODUCTION 

Gérard Chiron 

assisted by Cyril Chiron 

LIGHTING 

François Austerlitz (conception) 

and Nicolas Tauveron (production) 

REGISTRAR 

Corinne Bocquet and Alanna Minta Jordan 

UPCOMING EXHIBITION 

VOODOO 

COLLECTION OF ANNE 

AND JACQUES KERCHACHE 

April › Sept. 2011 

In April 2011, the Fondation Cartier pour 

l’art contemporain presents an exhibition 

dedicated to the exceptional private collection 

of African Voodoo Art gathered by Anne 

and Jacques Kerchache and presented 

to the public for the fi rst time. 

29 

PRACTICAL INFORMATION 

Th e exhibition is open to the public every day 

except Monday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Open Tuesday evenings until 10 p.m. 

Admission: 8 € 

Reduced rate*: 5.50 € 

Admission free** 

Free entry for visitors under 18 on Wednesday 

from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

Ticket sales: Fnac stores, www.fnac.com 

* Students, under 25, “carte Senior” holders, “Amis des 

Musées”, unemployed. 

** “Laissez-passer”, Circle of Friends, children under 10, 

and ICOM members. 

GROUP VISITS 

Guided tours, Tuesday to Friday, 

from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (min. 10 people). 

Adults: 10 € per person 

Students and “Carte Senior” holders: 5 € 

per person (free admission for group leaders) 

Self-guided tours, Tuesday to Sunday, 

from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (min. 10 people). 

Adults: 7 € per person 

Students and “Carte Senior” holders: 4 € 

per person (free admission for group leaders) 

Advance booking essential 

Visitors’ Department: 

Tel + 33 (0)1 42 18 56 67 

info.reservation@fondation.cartier.com 

LAISSEZ-PASSER 

Th e Laissez-passer off ers free and unlimited 

priority access to the Fondation Cartier, 

free access for a guest accompanying 

the cardholder on Wednesdays, guided visits 

to the exhibitions, invitations to Nomadic 

Nights events, and reduced prices for 

special events (limited number available, 

reservation only), a 5% discount at the 

bookstore, as well as privileges in numerous 

other cultural institutions in Paris 

(museums, theaters…). 

Annual membership: 38 € 

Reduced rate (students, “carte Senior” 

and “carte famille nombreuse” holders): 25 € 

Youth rate (under age 25): 18 € 

Contact: Visitors’ Department 

Tel. +33 (0)1 42 18 56 67 

info.laissezpasser@fondation.cartier.com 

ACCESS 

261, boulevard Raspail 75014 Paris 

Tel. +33 (0)1 42 18 56 50 

Fax +33 (0)1 ( 42 18 56 52 

Metro Ra Raspail or Denfert-Rochereau 

(lines (lines 4 & 6) 

Bus 38, 68, 6 88, 91 

RER RER De Denfert-Rochereau (line B) 

Vélib’ 2, rue Victor Schoelcher 

Disabled parking at 2, rue Victor Schoelcher 

BOOK SIGNING 

MŒBIUS WILL SIGN THE EXHIBITION CATALOG ATAL 

AS WELL AS HIS NEW BOOK ARZAK, L’ARPENTEUR 

AT THE FONDATION CARTIER POUR L’ART 

CONTEMPORAIN ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 

FROM 7 P.M. TO 9 P.M. 

PRESS INFORMATION 

Linda Chenit 

assisted by Matthieu Simonnet 

Tel. +33 (0)1 42 18 56 77/65 

Fax +33 (0)1 42 18 56 52 

linda.chenit@fondation.cartier.com 

Images on line: fondation.cartier.com 

Opening on Sunday October 10, 2010 

in the presence of the artist


CINECINEMA presents from October 

14 through November 3, 2010 the fi lm 

cycle “Mœbius et ses avatars” exploring 

this fascinating artist through a selection 

of fi lms: Alien by Ridley Scott, Blueberry, 

l’expérience secrète by Jan Kounen, Dune 

by David Lynch, Th ru the Mœbius Strip 

by Glenn Chaika, Cauchemar blanc 

by Matthieu Kassowitz, as well as several 

documentaries including the previously 

unreleased MÉTAMŒBIUS, 

Giraud-Mœbius Métamorphoses, which 

is also screening at the exhibition 

MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME. 

Press Contact: 

Karletty Lavocat 

karletty.lavocat@canal-plus.com 

Tel. +33 (0)1 71 35 20 59 

i>TELE as a partner of MŒBIUS- 

TRANSE-FORME is pleased to 

collaborate with this exhibition through 

reports and interviews. Th ese programs, 

to be broadcast on i>TELE and available 

on itele.fr will present the imaginary 

and futuristic worlds of Mœbius and 

explore the theme of metamorphosis, 

shedding light on the work of this 

multifaceted artist. 


Clémentine Gayet 

clementine.gayet@canal-plus.com 

Tel. +33 (0)1 53 91 51 66 

CAPTIONS AND CREDITS 

COVER: AMAZING MUSE, INSIDE MŒBIUS, 

volume 6, plates 82 and 83, 2007-2010 

© Mœbius Productions 

PAGE 2: ARZACH, 1995 

Gouache and acrylic on paper, 36 x 24.3 cm 


PAGE 4: AUTOPORTRAIT BLANC, 1996 

India ink on paper (notebook page), 

21.4 x 13.6 cm 

Collection Fondation Cartier pour l’art 

contemporain, Paris / © Mœbius 

BLUEBERRY, volume 6: L’HOMME À L’ÉTOILE 

D’ARGENT, plate 33B, 1969 (detail) 

© Dargaud / Charlier / Giraud 

ARZACH ET COMPAGNIE, 1975-2010 (detail) 

Ink and felt pen on tracing paper 

(digitally redesigned) / © Mœbius 

SANS TITRE, drawing made for the 

Futuroscope, 2010 (detail) 

India ink on paper / © Mœbius 

Preparatory drawing for the limited edition 

of APRÈS L’INCAL, 2000 © Les Humanoïdes 

Associés / Jodorowsky / Mœbius 

PAGE 5: INSIDE MŒBIUS, volume 6, plate 75, 

2007 / © Mœbius Productions 

PAGE 6: Preparatory image from the 3-D 

animated fi lm La Planète encore, 2010 (detail) 

© AngeleFine Productions and Mœbius 

Productions. 3-D image: BUF 

PAGE 7: LE MONDE D’EDENA, volume 3: 

LA DÉESSE, plate 2, 1990 (detail) 

© Casterman / Mœbius 

LE MONDE D’EDENA, volume 2: 

LES JARDINS D’EDENA, plate 37, 1988 (detail) 


30 

Summarizing the career and work of 

an artist as prolifi c as Jean Giraud, 

alias Mœbius, would be an undertaking 

as arduous as writing the Mahabharata. 

Illustrator, actor, screenwriter, author, 

artistic collaborator, this “fantastic” 

person is fi nally being honored with 

an exhibition worthy of his stature, 

and AlloCiné is pleased to off er both 

journalistic and advertising support. 

Press Contacts: 

Angélique d’Esteve 

a.desteve@thedesk.fr 

Tel. +33 (0)1 45 61 95 75 

and +33 (0)6 08 32 74 15 

Stéphane Kanoui 

s.kanoui@thedesk.fr 

Tel. +33 (0)1 45 61 95 76 

and +33 (0)6 11 66 00 50 

Published by MK2, Trois Couleurs is the 

leading free monthly cultural magazine 

in Paris. With a distribution of over 

200,000 copies per month, it is available 

at prime cultural spots throughout 

the city. Whether fi lm, dance, fi ne arts, 

literature, video games, music, and 

of course, comics, the magazine reports 

on the trends and cultural news of 

all genres. 


Anne-Charlotte Gilard 

anne-charlotte.gilard@mk2.com 

Tel. +33 (0)1 43 07 55 22 

L’INCAL, volume 4: CE QUI EST EN HAUT, plate 15, 

1985 (detail) / © Les Humanoïdes 


PAGE 8: CALENDE, 1998 (detail) 




contemporain, Paris / © Mœbius Productions 

PAGE 9: PETIT CŒUR, 1988 

Watercolor and inks on paper, 13.3 x 9.8 cm 


PAGE 10: Drawing for the cover 

of INSIDE MŒBIUS, volume 6, 2009 


PAGE 11: ARZACH ET COMPAGNIE, 1975-2010 

Ink and felt pen on tracing paper 

(digitally redesigned) / © Moebius 

PAGE 14: Drawing for the cover of 

L’HOMME DU CIGURI, 1994 

Airbrush and mixed media on paper, 

39 x 29.5 cm 

© Les Humanoïdes Associés / Mœbius 

PAGE 15: Preparatory drawing for 

LE CHASSEUR DÉPRIME, 1995-1999 (detail) 





40 DAYS DANS LE DÉSERT B., plate 50, 

1999 (detail) 


16 x 23.5 cm / © Mœbius Productions 

PAGES 16-17: 40 DAYS DANS LE DÉSERT B., 

plate 16, 1999 


Télérama is thrilled to be associated 

with the exhibition MŒBIUS- 

TRANSE-FORME and will be devoting 

extensive print coverage and its website to 

this visionary of the ninth art. Founding 

father of the modern comics, creator 

of Blueberry and Métal Hurlant, known 

throughout the world, Mœbius will be 

the main feature of the September 29, 

2010 edition of Télérama 

(number 2168). 


Anne de Lagarde 

Tel. +33 (0)1 55 30 56 98 

Th roughout the year, Le Parisien keeps 

its readers informed of the cultural 

events in their region, off ering insights 

into major exhibitions and artistic trends, 

as well as presenting new talent to a 

wider audience. Th is is why Le Parisien 

is pleased to support rt the exhibition 

MŒBIUS-TRANSE-FORME, NSE-FORME, a great 

opportunity to discover cover the the world of 

one of the fi nest creators eators of comics. 


France Pabst 

fpabst@leparisien.presse.fr presse.fr 

Tel. +33 (0)1 40 10 0 33 70 

16 x 23.5 cm / © Mœbius œbius Productions 

PAGE 18: Preparatory drawing drawingfor for 

LE CHASSEUR DÉPRIME, 1995-1999 (detail) 

India ink on paper (page de carnet), 




TÊTE GALLERY, 2009 (detail) 

India ink on paper, 56.5 x 76.2 cm 

© Mœbius 

PAGE 19: Drawing for the cover of Blueberry, 

volume 24: MISTER BLUEBERRY, 1995 

Gouache and acrylic on paper, 

44.3 x 33.6 cm 

© Dargaud / Charlier / Giraud 



PAGE 21: Dernière Station, 2009 (detail) 

India ink on paper, 57 x 77 cm / © Mœbius 

LE CHASSEUR DÉPRIME, page 30, 2008 

(detail) © Mœbius Productions 



© Mœbius 

PAGE 22: CALENDE, 1998 (detail) 







© Mœbius 

PAGE 23: LE MONDE D’EDENA, special edition: 

LES RÉPARATEURS, « La Planète encore », 

plate 23, 1990 / © Casterman / Mœbius 

Documentaries, news broadcasts and 

debates: culture has an important 

and varied presence on France Info, 

which supports numerous current events 

on the cultural scene. France Info is 

proud to be associated with the 

exhibition MŒBIUS-TRANSE- 

FORME and listeners will fi nd reports 

and interviews both on the radio 

and on france-info.com. 


Claude-Agnès Marcel 

Tel. +33 (0)1 56 40 20 43 

Th e exhibition MŒBIUS-TRANSE- 

FORME is organized with support 

from the Fondation Cartier pour 

l’art contemporain, under the aegis 

of the Fondation de France, and with 

the the sponsorship of Cartier. 

PAGE 24: LA CHASSE AU MAJOR, 2009 

Acryliconcanvas Acrylic on canvas, 90 x 130 cm/©Mœbius 

cm / © Mœbius 

PAGE 25: DERNIÈRE STATION, 2009 (detail) 

India ink on paper, 57 x 77 cm 

© Mœbius 

ARZAK, DESTINATION TASSILI, preparatory 

version of ARZAK, L’ARPENTEUR, 2008 (detail) 


PAGE 26: APRÈS L’INCAL, Le nouveau rêve, 

plate 21, 2000 (detail) / © Les Humanoïdes 


LE CHASSEUR DÉPRIME, page 30, 2008 (detail) 




PAGE 28: Preparatory drawing for 

the cover of INSIDE MŒBIUS, volume 4, 2008 

Watercolor and ink on paper, 25.6 x 18 cm 


PAGE 29: LE CHASSEUR DÉPRIME, page 30, 

2008 (detail) / © Mœbius Productions 

LE MAJOR, 2007 (detail) 


14 x 9.2 cm / © Mœbius Productions 

PAGE 30: DUEL D’EGO, 2007 

Ink and color pencil on paper, 24 x 32 cm 


PAGE 31: INSIDE MŒBIUS, volume 6, plate 111 

(detail), 2007 


BACK COVER: ROBOT COP I, 2007-2010 

India ink on cardboard paper, 24.5 x 16 cm 

(digitally colorizing) / © Mœbius

Oct. 12, 2010 ? March 13, 2011 - Fondation Cartier pour l'art ...

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