The internationally renowned artist Peter Gut (born 1959) from Winterthur is one of the most famous and eminent illustrators of German-speaking Switzerland. The Cartoonmuseum Basel shows his manifold oeuvre in a comprehensive retrospective. The show includes his well-known cartoons for the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” (NZZ), “Bilanz” and “Die Zeit” as well as – and this is a premiere – illustrations, independent drawings, and paintings. Peter Gut combines the two most important qualities of a caricaturist: He is an alert, sharp commentator and an equally economical and precise illustrator. Urged by personal concern, he brings together events and faces from politics and society and mixes them into surreal scenes imbued with an acid cocktail of message, innuendo and cross-reference. Sometimes, these syntheses of ideas and images affect you immediately. At other times, they slowly work their way through Gut’s several, solidly crafted layers of meaning. The illustrator is at his best when celebrities step into the firing line of his mockery. In precise strokes inspired by great role models like Honoré Daumier and Tomi Ungerer, he creates faces, hilarious even without a punchline, simply because of their exposing exaggeration. Peter Gut puts a lot of energy into mordantly ridiculing his victims. But he stages their dismantling with great care and affection. Every detail fits, and all the pictures, even the quick sketches, are strikingly balanced. The fact that Gut, who originally trained as a typesetter, can resort to a vast repertory of styles and techniques makes this exhibition a real treat for everyone interested in critical drawing and comic art. 
Curator: Anette Gehrig