Speakers:

Gerhard Pfennig, Executive committee of »VG Bild-Kunst«

Kasper König, Director of the »Museum Ludwig Köln«

 

From December 7th, 2007 until January 26th, 2008 the Deutscher Künstlerbund is presenting works of Gert & Uwe Tobias, the awardees of this year’s »HAP Grieshaber Preis der VG Bild-Kunst«.

 

The twin brothers from Transylvania produce their work together and consider themselves as equal partners. Their oeuvre is characterized by various techniques, which are also manifested in their exhibition in the Project Space of the Künstlerbund, where large-sized woodcuts, typewriter drawings and two sculptural objects are shown. In their creative process, they use traditional techniques and tools that are nowadays nearly lost in oblivion and seem to be anachronistic in the digital age.

 

Already during their studies, Gert and Uwe Tobias concerned themselves with the woodcut technique and developed their own procedure. Frequently based on drawings, elements are crafted from poplar with a special saw and assembled like a puzzle. Each layer of colour is printed separately by hand and the small-sized printing plates are put together to a whole. It is this lengthy process which intensifies the rough and somewhat very expressive character of the work. 

 

In their typewriter images, Gert and Uwe Tobias play with the forms and outlines of letters. For them, they are merely elements of forms to construct the bodies or facial expressions of their figures. The meaning of the letters is lost in their decorative arrangement which partially reminds the viewer of a sewing pattern. Here they pick up the traditional thread of letter images that played a role especially in Dadaism and surrealism. 

 

In their iconography Gert and Uwe Tobias fall back on diverse traditions like constructivism, cubism, art brut, folklore and comic. In doing so they create a very special style. This powerful and at the same time serious combination of traditional elements with elements of their subjective present lead to a fascinating mixture whose impact puts its spell on the viewer.

 

 

Born in Brasov, Romania in 1973 the twin brothers moved to Germany in 1985. In Brunswick they attended the Academy of Visual Arts (Prof. Walter Dahn). Numerous exhibitions in Germany and abroad made them internationally well-known. At the moment, they are represented in the Museum of Modern Art in New York with the solo exhibition »Projects 86«.

 

 

In February 2007 the Cologne-based artists Gert and Uwe Tobias were awarded the »HAP Grieshaber Preis der VG Bild-Kunst« for outstanding artistic achievements by the jury of the Art Foundation, which is endowed with 25.000 Euro.

 

The support fund of the »HAP Grieshaber Preis der VG Bild-Kunst« has been made available by the Kulturwerk.