TÜBINGEN.- Gert and Uwe Tobias (born 1973) are among the most famous graphic artists of their generation. In the past, the artist-duo not only updated the technique of the woodcut, they also created a multifaceted and multi-layered oeuvre embracing collages, drawings, sculptures, wall paintings and installations, alongside woodcuts.

The works created jointly by Gert and Uwe Tobias emerge in the field of tension between cultural memory and individual imagination. The artists draw on images from different sources and genres: ranging from art-historical motifs via pop-culture elements to motifs from Transylvanian folklore. Over the past two decades, they have developed their own individual art cosmos with great inventiveness and on the basis of the most varied stylistic sources of inspiration. While in their early works folkloric motifs and scenarios were the initial point of departure for developing something new, in the past few years they have expanded their thematic range to include the art history of past eras.

After a long period of time, and in the form of both old and new work groups, the exhibition at the Kunsthalle Tübingen presents an overview of their artistic exchange with ‘high art’ genres, such as the still life, the portrait and the interior. The specially compiled accompanying catalogue features photographs of the installations.

The expansive installation developed for the rooms at the Kunsthalle gathers the highly varied media employed by the artist-duo into an integral whole. Not least, it illustrates how, through their creative imagination, Gert and Uwe Tobias enlarge their world with the help of endless metamorphoses. By re-inventing the traditional technique of the woodcut for the present day, they open up new and impressive imaginative spaces.

Curator: Dr .Nicole Fritz