Niklaus Rüegg, born in 1977 in Männedorf (Switzerland), attended the the Zurich University for the Arts (ZHdK) and graduated with a Masters from the Higher Institute for Fine Arts (HISK) in Gent, Belgium. Rüegg’s work has several themes at its core, which he returns to repeatedly throughout his career, exploring them meticulously. He works in various media, including texts, paintings, drawings, objects and installations. One of the subjects Rüegg explores, is the sociologic footprint of our consumer culture, which he addresses in his large-scale installations, sculpted with cardboard trash, found on the streets of Zurich.
However, his gouache-painted comics are his most recognisable series, inspired by the classic Donald Duck cartoons, created by Carl Barks (1901–2000). In these large formatted strips, he finds ways of decomposing the source material and questioning the narration and sequential understanding of images in general. They are devoid of protagonists, speech bubbles or action. Leaving us with eerie, deserted spaces – holes for potential narratives to be inserted. Or to remain forever empty… Niklaus lives and works in Zurich.

→ Niklaus Rüegg biography

Niklaus Rüegg, born in 1977 in Männedorf (Switzerland), attended the the Zurich University for the Arts (ZHdK) and graduated with a Masters from the Higher Institute for Fine Arts (HISK) in Gent, Belgium. Rüegg’s work has several themes at its core, which he returns to repeatedly throughout his career, exploring them meticulously. He works in various media, including texts, paintings, drawings, objects and installations. One of the subjects Rüegg explores, is the sociologic footprint of our consumer culture, which he addresses in his large-scale installations, sculpted with cardboard trash, found on the streets of Zurich.
However, his gouache-painted comics are his most recognisable series, inspired by the classic Donald Duck cartoons, created by Carl Barks (1901–2000). In these large formatted strips, he finds ways of decomposing the source material and questioning the narration and sequential understanding of images in general. They are devoid of protagonists, speech bubbles or action. Leaving us with eerie, deserted spaces – holes for potential narratives to be inserted. Or to remain forever empty… Niklaus lives and works in Zurich.

→ Niklaus Rüegg biography