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| Gert & Uwe Tobias, Installation view at Windsor Gallery, Windsor, FloridaPhotograph by Katy Hamer, 2012 |
The Tobias brothers, Gert and Uwe, were born in
BraÅŸov, Romania in 1973. They relocated to Germany when they were 12 years old and grew up in Cologne which is where they are currently based. Twins who have found companionship both inside and outside the studio, the two live in a compound with their respective families and parents. Nearby their home is also the studio where they work. Commencing upon a new project, the brothers openly share ideas and will each lend a hand to the process of execution although the whoever starts a particular work, will be the one to finish it. They work in various scales ranging from quite large at 20 feet across to smaller etchings that are 9" x 12" and do all of the work themselves, sans assistants. Their work is quite physical and larger pieces are made on the studio floor, transferred by the weight of the body and the action of walking on the work to transfer paint and forms. For the exhibition Gert & Uwe Tobias on view at the Gallery at Windsor in Vero Beach, Florida the two have brought together a large selection of work including colored woodcuts and typewriter drawings amongst others. A video in the gallery shows part of their methodology within the context of working in the studio. Organized by Whitechapel Gallery in London and Iwona Blazwick OBE, Director along with the Hon. Hilary M. Weston, the exhibition is a comprehensive survey of the brothers work, most of which is very recent. This is their second solo show this year, the earlier one being at Contemporary Fine Art in Berlin, which was on view from October 4th-November 10th, 2012.
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| Gert & Uwe Tobias, Installation view at Windsor Gallery, Windsor, Florida©Tom Smoyer, 2012 |
The opening coincided with Art Basel Miami Beach. Although the Gallery at Windsor is a 3 hour drive from South Beach, it will be a pleasant surprise for any art lover who should find themselves in this southeast section of Florida. The facilities at Windsor are phenomenal. Large homes appear out of a Colonial picture book and streets are lined with palm trees. Gert and Uwe stayed at the residence a week prior to the opening, with a balance of time to relax and play tennis with the locals and also to survey the installation. Much of their work (as evident in the installation photographs) often corresponds to the wall itself. A great amount of detail is given to not only placement but also to the color of the wall and the shape in which the piece actually rests. Various parts of the exhibition feature painted sections with serrated edges, as if the paint had been cut by a steak knife or sharp pair of scissors. These visual divisions help to offset the work and also allow for it to feel at home on the wall. Rather than install in what many refer to as a "white cube" the brothers choose to very specifically construct the space to fit their own particular vision.
As part of the opening weekend, Iwona Blazwick OBE, Director of Whitechapel Gallery took part in a dialogue with the artists, asking about their specific studio practice, choice of content and working together. Much of the work is based on the recontextualizing and reinterpretation of traditional folklore and fairytale legend. Stylistically and aesthetically the work can be traced back to Russian Suprematism and early Modernism while also revealing a nod towards German Expressionism. They focus on bold, graphic shapes that overlap and rest on a dark ground. Inside of the shapes a formation of narrative abstraction leaps to the foreground and yet doesn't tell a particular story. In what is a true collaboration, they play with the conjecture of childhood memory through the eyes and physical presence of adulthood.
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| Gert & Uwe Tobias, Installation view at Windsor Gallery, Windsor, Florida©Tom Smoyer, 2012 |
Etchings, woodcuts, typewriter drawings and collage return to a simplicity in art, yet a true complexity of the mind. The work features a playfulness that can also be construed upon closer inspection as dark and maybe even nightmarish. The surrealistic quality of the recomposed body structures that emulate animals and monsters recall dreams that one may have had at a time when the basement seemed scary or a dark room ominous. In between graphic geometric shapes lie the key to unlocking a novel, that never truly had a door or lock for that matter, to begin with.
Starting with a drawing, they work together always thinking about the history and compositional study of painting while never actually using a brush to make shapes or the resulting images. For the woodcuts they use various transparencies of color to achieve the look that they want. Conceptually the body of works coexist within the realm of painting without traditionally relating to the technical physicality of what the medium normally requires. They often use maps and embroidery patterns for inspiration but also tend to look at and collect hundreds of magazine tears, books, and art historical reference. On revealing why they use particular animals in their work Gert Tobias replied:
"[We use] birds because they are not spectacular. I don't use crocodiles because they are not in my world. With birds we can make something that relates to art history, mythology and things we know and see in our everyday life. We don't want to tell people stories, we use a code and count the figures and objects in our works. They are all very specific and [methodologically] chosen."
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Gert & Uwe Tobias, Installation view at Windsor Gallery, Windsor, Florida©Tom Smoyer, 2012
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Gert & Uwe Tobias is on view from December 9th 2012 – April 4th 2013 at the Gallery at Windsor and will then travel to Whitechapel Gallery in London, England.
The Gallery at Windsor is in a three year curatorial partnership with Whitechapel Gallery and 2012 was the second year of the collaboration. The Gallery is open by appointment only and is located at:Windsor, 3125 Windsor Boulevard, Vero Beach, Florida, 32963windsorflorida.com
More soon!xo
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