Lika Nüssli is one of the contemporary Swiss scene’s best-known and busiest artists. On a basis of narrative art, she observes, researches and experiments with various forms of free art. Her multifaceted oeuvre encompasses drawing, illustration, comics, painting, installation, performance and texts. Cartoonmuseum Basel is presenting the first major retrospective on Lika Nüssli. Created in close collaboration with the artist herself, it includes works from all her periods, ranging from comics and comic reportage to large-format paintings on fabric, and documentation of her performances. These are supplemented by recent works, produced for the exhibition. This is also the first opportunity to see original drawings (which play with elements of naive Appenzell painting) from her simultaneously released graphic novel Starkes Ding (Strong Thing), based on her father’s memories of his youth as a foster child.

Lika Nüssli already addressed her roots in her first graphic novel, Don’t Forget Yourself: In a distinctive style that combines delicate line work with ornamental elements, she created a touching combination of autobiography, documentary and fiction, revolving around her changing relationship with her mother, who suffers from dementia. She has produced many of her works away from home, during sometimes lengthy stays abroad in Belgrade, Paris, St Petersburg, Moscow and Cairo. These travel drawings and examples of comic reportage often deal with repression, censorship and the status of women. In her performances, which Lika Nüssli sees as engagement with places and people, she also connects with the audience. The resulting coloured drawings on fabric capture traces of the moment and reflect transience.

After being educated as a textile designer, this artist studied at the Lucerne School of Art and Design. Her children’s books, the SJW booklets she has designed, and her illustrations for various magazines and newspapers have already earned her multiple awards.