Romanian artists exhibit at the Whitechapel

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Gert & Uwe Tobias

16 April – 14 June 2013, Gallery 1

The Whitechapel Gallery presents a major exhibition of Romanian-born artists Gert and Uwe Tobias.  The artists’ collaborative woodcuts, detailed collages, wall paintings and new ceramic sculptures will be part of a site-specific installation for the Gallery.

Identical twins Gert and Uwe Tobias paint, sculpt, make traditional woodcuts and draw with a typewriter. They have worked together since 2001 and when in their studio the artists often complete each other’s work. Their work is full of strange characters and creatures drawn from eastern European folk art combined with diverse influences, from abstract art of the early 20th century to German post-war painting.

The exhibition includes work from 2008 to the present day as well as a series of new works exhibited for the first time. The artists will also produce a unique woodcut exhibition poster, continuing a tradition of creating a woodcut to mark every one of their solo exhibitions.

The Tobias brothers’ giant woodcuts and wall paintings draw on modernist geometric abstraction but they combine line, shape, colour and typography with the narrative images and patterns of folk art, using decorative motifs such as flowers, plants, patterns, embroidery and domestic objects. These elements are often placed against a grid or flat painted background to create dramatic and surreal tableaux.

Transforming Gallery 1, the Tobias brothers will create an installation incorporating the tradition of modernist stage design with geometric shapes and lines in bold colours extending from the works across the walls. A selection of their new ceramic works will also feature in the show. Taking mass-produced crockery, the artists add ceramic extrusions and coloured glazes to everyday plates and vases, creating new and unexpected expressionistic sculptures.

The Whitechapel Gallery’s presentation follows an exhibition of Gert and Uwe Tobias’s work curated by Iwona Blazwick, Director, Whitechapel Gallery, at The Gallery at Windsor, Vero Beach, Florida from 9 December 2012 – 4 April 2013.This exhibition is made in partnership with The Gallery at Windsor.

The Whitechapel Gallery
77–82 Whitechapel High Street
London E1 7QX