Tom Tirabosco belongs to a generation of comics authors from Romandy, who have been attracting attention for several years with unusual and unconventional works. Born in 1966 in Rome, he has lived in Geneva since 1970 and also has his studio there today. His admiration of great painters like Bruegel, Titian and Veronese caused him to study at Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia and later at École supérieure des arts visuels in Geneva.
As an illustrator and comics artist, like his role models Lorenzo Mattotti, Thomas Ott and Dave McKean, Tirabosco has an affinity with painting, but does not actually paint in the narrower sense of the word. His special monotype-like technique on grainy paper characterises his distinct, very vivid style with soft contours, subtle shades of grey and chalky colour fields. Tirabosco is internationally renowned as a magnificent illustrator and simultaneously as an imaginative storyteller, who is just as comfortable with autobiographical or surreal material as he is with socio-critical or humorous subject matter. Thanks to this thematic diversity, Tirabosco is known not only for his comic albums published by major French comics publishers, but also for illustrations and cartoons in magazines like “Strapazin”, “Drozophile”, “Libération” and “L’Hébdo”. In addition, he is an insightful children’s book author with a definite understanding of young readers.
The awards that Tirabosco has received include the Prix oecuménique at the 36th Angoulême International Comics Festival and in 2013 he was presented with the Prix Rodolphe Töpffer by the City of Geneva for the second time. The exhibition at Cartoonmuseum Basel is this artist’s first retrospective in the German-speaking world.
