Born in 1966 in Zurich, Thomas Ott is German-speaking Switzerland’s most internationally famous comics author. His scratchboard works combine a black-heavy visual language (inspired by the dramatic aesthetics of pulp films and books) with stories that are bleak and nightmarish, resulting in grotesque cryptic tragedies. The masterful linework and opulent vividness of the images that he scratches out with a craft knife form an unsettling contrast with the wordlessness and macabre humour of his narratives.

His first works appeared in the comic magazine ‘Strapazin’ while he was still studying graphic design at the Zurich School of Design. After graduating, he worked as a freelance comics artist and illustrator. In 1989, Edition Moderne published his scratchboard book ‘Tales of Error’. Alongside numerous other comic albums, he produced cinematic works, such as the animation ‘Robert Creep – Une vie de chien’, which was created in collaboration with director Claude Luyet and won the Audience Award at the 1994 Solothurn Film Festival. After an eight-year stay in Paris, Thomas Ott began a second degree, studying film at the Zurich University of the Arts, which he completed in 2002. He then made further short films and animations. His most recent works include a diary of a journey along the USA’s popular Route 66 for the Louis Vuitton ‘Travel Book Series’ and the subtle surreal short story ‘The Forest’.

Cartoonmuseum Basel is the first museum to hold a retrospective on this artist, who has been awarded the Swiss Federal Scholarship for Applied Arts three times and, in 2017, became the first comics artist to receive the Swiss Grand Prix of Design. The comprehensive exhibition presents originals from all his comic albums, arrangements featuring groups of works, animations, live-action films, objects, sources of inspiration and sketches.

Press conference: Thursday, 20.03.2025, 11am
Opening: Friday, 21.03.2025, 6.30pm
Curator: Anette Gehrig