Right from their student days, twin brothers Gert and Uwe Tobias (b. Rumania, 1973) have teamed up in their work. In their giant woodcuts, ceramic sculptures and gouaches, they have created a unique visual language that betrays an inexhaustible imagination. At times, they present little animalistic figures that look like something from a comic strip: cartoon-like eyes roll on stalks while sad-looking mouths with large canine teeth are set in bizarre monstrous or comical faces.

Artistic roots

However contemporary their work though, it is deeply rooted in the Modernism of the past. The brothers’ expressive world is reminiscent of the carnivalesque paintings of the renowned Belgian Expressionist James Ensor (the subject of a parallel exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum), to whom Gert and Uwe Tobias have consciously looked for inspiration. Specially devised for the GEM, this breathtaking installation-cum-exhibition of recent work is the first showing of their art in a museum in the Netherlands.

Cabinet of Curiosity

Gert & Uwe Tobias are best known for their huge, colourful woodcuts, a traditional technique into which they have breathed new life. Classic and expressionist forms alternate with concrete ones, like punctuation marks, against a gridded background reminiscent of typewriters or video games but in fact partly influenced by Mondrian’s geometrical abstraction and Bauhaus.

The woodcuts with the gridded background belong to a body of work which is called ‘Die Mappe’ and refers to a collection of patterns for folkloristic embroidery where the same kind of grid is used. But their artistic universe is far wider than this; they frequently weave their works together to form large-scale installations combining woodcuts with collages, drawings, gouaches, sculptures and murals. Their ceramic sculptures are organically shaped. They feature figures that look trapped in the heavy, glazed material and sometimes hang their devilish heads, making them appear more wistful than dangerous. The plinths – brightly coloured bowls, vases or mugs – are particularly eye-catching. The exhibition at the GEM is a weird and wonderful world: a curiosity cabinet with surprises at every turn.

Background

The  work of Gert and Uwe Tobias has attracted steadily growing international interest ever since their New York show at the MoMA a few years ago. The twins grew up in the Rumania of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and moved to Germany with their parents in 1985. This Rumanian background certainly influences their work, with its references to the popular culture of Eastern Europe (in particular its folk costumes and carnival attire). An attention-grabbing trademark of Gert and Uwe Tobias’s exhibitions is their practice of designing their own invitation poster for each show, stating its title, date and place. For the exhibition at the GEM, they have designed a gigantic fly with bright orange legs.

Created for GEM

In their most recent works, specially created for the Hague exhibition, the artists have sought inspiration in typically Dutch themes, such as the seventeenth-century still life genre. Slaughtered animals – a goat, plucked poultry – dangle from strings and hooks. The images may be gruesome, but the graceful forms and added floral motifs make them both decorative and splendidly colourful.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a lavishly illustrated catalogue authored by Rogier Ormeling and published by d’Jonge Hond (price: € 22.50).