Galerie Rodolphe Janssen is pleased to announce a new exhibition by Gert & Uwe Tobias in Brussels from March 29th till May 26th.
For their third solo show at the gallery, Gert & Uwe Tobias will present for the first time large wood- cuts on canvas together with collages and ceramic sculptures.
Their work contains a strong sense of biography, focusing on their origins in Transylvania, none- theless, their range of influence also goes from Ensor to Max Ernst, from Dracula to rock music and from Malevitch to Magritte.
« Gert and Uwe Tobias are brothers, twins born in a part of Romania that most people have heard about but have never seen. A place associated, thanks to Bram Stoker and countless vampire mo- vies, with the legend of Dracula. Their family relocated in Germany when they were twelve. But their return to Romania, when they were in their twenties, would have a decisive effect on the direction of their work. To see where their family was from, to be in the landscape, to discover a whole folkloric tradition that encompasses célébrations and bizarre costumes, handcrafts and vernacular motifs, all this engaged their imaginations and was brought to bear on their work. » Conversation with Bob Nickas, Cologne, July 9th 2006.
The woodcuts, watercolors and drawings create a sense of time that fluctuates between archaic cultural mythology and contemporary visual culture. Pictures of figures, monstrous and foreign, othe- rwordly and poetic, beautiful yet haunting, suggest a dark narrative. The ceramics pieces are a mix between grotesque objects and utility receptacles.
