Mangas

Manga has established itself as one of the most influential visual forms of expression in global contemporary culture, emerging from a Japanese graphic tradition whose roots trace back to ukiyo-e prints and medieval narrative scrolls.

Developed in its modern form in the aftermath of the Second World War, notably under the influence of Osamu Tezuka, whose foundational work established the basis of a highly expressive and richly sequenced narrative language, it quickly became a fully-fledged medium, exploring a wide range of genres and aesthetics far beyond Western categories of comics.

The characteristic manga style, with its oversized expressive eyes, speed lines, dynamic paneling, and ability to visually convey intense emotional states, forms an instantly recognizable graphic vocabulary that has profoundly influenced global visual culture, from animation to video games, fashion to street art.

Artists such as Takashi Murakami, whose Superflat movement explicitly theorizes the relationship between manga, Japanese pop culture, and art history, illustrate the trajectory of a popular visual language into the most established spheres of contemporary art.

On Artsper, this selection brings together contemporary works in which manga visual codes are reinterpreted through painting, printmaking, or urban art, demonstrating the capacity of a popular narrative language to inspire artistic explorations of constantly renewed richness and diversity.