Dear friends of Cartoonmuseum Basel | We are very pleased to invite you to the opening of our upcoming exhibition 'José Muñoz. Broken Voices' at Cartoonmuseum Basel. Following on from Jacques Tardi and Thomas Ott, another master of the black-and-white drawing is visiting our museum: José Muñoz. This comics artist, who was born in Argentina in 1942 and now lives in Milan, uses black-and-white in its purest form – powerfully and uncompromisingly, without any grey tones or hatching | | | Muñoz's drawings are direct, impetuous and sometimes crude. His masterful use of light and shadow often borders on abstraction, and his characters range from realistic to grotesque. Working either solo or together with his long-standing creative partner Carlos Sampayo (b. 1943), a similarly exiled compatriot author, he has produced an extensive body of work that conveys strong commitment on both a political and human level. |  © José Muñoz, 'Billie Holiday', Szenario Carlos Sampayo, 1988–1991 Casterman, Paris, 1991 | The exhibition presents all facets of his output – from originals for the famous 'Alack Sinner' series, through to passionate references to jazz and tango. It also reveals a lesser-known painterly and colourful part of his oeuvre. |  © José Muñoz, Untitled, 2005, published in: 'La Pampa y Buenos Aires. De chair et de poussière', Futuropolis and Nuages, Paris and Milano, 2006 Courtesy Galleria Nuages, Milano | Celebrate the opening of this captivating exhibition with us and José Muñoz himself, and discover the expressive imagery of one of the great artists of our time. We look forward to your visit and to an inspirational evening. Welcome to Cartoonmuseum Basel! Yours sincerely, Anette Gehrig
Director and Curator |
| Opening of the exhibition 'José Muñoz. Broken Voices' | Friday, 27.3.2026 | 6.30pm–9pm | With: Baschi Dürr, Director of the Christoph Merian Foundation, Basel (CH), José Muñoz, comics artist, Milan (IT); Lorenzo Mattotti, comics artist, Paris (FR); and Anette Gehrig, Director and Curator of the Cartoonmuseum Basel
Music: Vanessa Lemoine and Gabriela Suárez, Jazzcampus Basel
You and your friends are cordially invited. | | | Artist Talk 'Son of historietas' | Saturday, 28.3.2026 | 5pm–6pm | With his unconventional expressionist crime stories, José Muñoz has created classic black-and-white comics. Alongside these, he has also produced a lesser-known painterly and colourful body of work, in which he addresses his themes more freely and less explicitly. In both spheres of activity, he conveys his interest in the effects of a loss of freedom, co-determination and security, as well as in the consequences of social hardship and upheaval. In a talk with curator Anette Gehrig, José Muñoz tells of his escape from Argentina to Europe, his development as an artist in both comics and fine art, and his relationship with masters who influenced him, such as Alberto Breccia and Hugo Pratt. | | | Sunday, 12.4.2026 | 2pm–3pm | Cartoonmuseum Basel is presenting the life's work of Argentine comics artist José Muñoz (b. 1942), who is known for his expressive black-and-white crime stories, depicting the everyday lives of outsiders on the fringes of society. The major retrospective also introduces visitors to Muñoz the painter, and to his love of music and dance, as the artist opens his archives to the public for the first time. Find out more about this socio-critical virtuoso during a public guided tour on a Sunday. | | | Wednesday morning talks 'Escape into Art' | Wednesday, 15.4.2026 | 10am–12pm | In the 1970s, the Argentine comics artist José Muñoz emigrated to Spain to escape the military dictatorship. Together with his compatriot and writer Carlos Sampayo, he explored political violence and exile in the series 'Alack Sinner', which combines crime fiction, social criticism, and contemporary history. Curator Anette Gehrig speaks with her guest, Prof. Dr. Harm Den Boer, about art as a form of resistance. | | | Cartoon Sunday 'Gangster hunt' | Sunday, 26.4.2026 | 2pm–4pm | With stark black-and-white contrasts, dark shadows on angular faces and skewed perspectives, José Muñoz has the perfect set of tools for depicting the back streets and the underworld. In this workshop, we follow his example and try to depict a scene from a crime thriller. Hands up! | | | | |
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