In his cross-media artistic oeuvre, Graf critically examines the boundary between social utopia and the realities of life. His works reveal an artistic Janus-facedness, a precisely observed, kaleidoscopic view of human existence that is not limited to the here and now, but also attempts to interpret our cultural history in retrospect.

Using digital techniques such as 3D animation and architectural rendering, Graf connects themes that constantly establish links between different territories and historically overlapping time periods. In his latest works, he consistently uses text-to-image AI to ultimately transfer virtually created objects into the real world as 3D prints and casts.

The juxtaposition of the real and the virtual in his work also extends to the question of whether the new technological achievements of our society will make the hoped-for utopia possible or instead bring about a dystopian scenario. It is this genuine curiosity about the world and the search for corresponding images that characterizes the artist Manuel Graf.

His works are collected by acclaimed institutions and private collections such as Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach; Stiftung Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf; Sammlung des Landes NRW, Kunsthaus Kornelimünster, Aachen; Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten, Marl; Leopold-Hoesch- Museum, Düren; Kunstsammlung der Stadt Düsseldorf; LWL – Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster; Hypo Vereinsbank – Member of UniCredit, München; Provinzial Kunstsammlung, Düsseldorf; Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf/Berlin; Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf; Collection of Gabi and Wilhelm Schürmann, Herzogenrath et al.