Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys

Micro Mundo 3, 4, 5, 8, and 10 (2023)
Die Vier von der Tankstelle (The Four from the Filling Station, 2023)

Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys, The Four from the Filling Station (2023), installation view, photo: steirischer herbst / kunst-dokumentation.com, courtesy of the artists

Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys, The Four from the Filling Station (2023), installation view, photo: steirischer herbst / kunst-dokumentation.com, courtesy of the artists

Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys, Micro Mundo 3, 4, 5, 8, and 10 (2023), installation view, photo: steirischer herbst / kunst-dokumentation.com, courtesy of the artists, M HKA, and KIN

Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys, Micro Mundo 4 (2023), installation view, private collection, photo: steirischer herbst / Mathias Völzke, courtesy of the artists

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Micro Mundo 3, 4, 5, 8, and 10 (2023)

The “animating” of dead matter is a recurring theme in the works of Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys. Their microworlds present little Gardens of Eden gone wrong: mutated rodents, reptiles, and rats with human heads in terraria, getting ready to replace humanity. They live among household objects of the kind one could win on a Belgian game show from the 1970s, where contestants would guess the identity of an object as the camera slowly zoomed out from an extreme close-up.

Die Vier von der Tankstelle (The Four from the Filling Station, 2023)

In their new installation, Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys respond to the story of Dr. Jazz and his troubled past. Four uniformed guard dog–human hybrids sit in a Mercedes-Benz. The title of the work refers to Die Drei von der Tankstelle, a German film operetta from 1930. The positive attitude of the protagonists in this movie contrasts sharply with the dark political reality slowly taking over all life. The motionless passengers in the Mercedes seem to be at the end of a long journey, but have not yet reached their final destination. They are haunted and on the run forever.

Jos de Gruyter (1965, Geel, Belgium) and Harald Thys (1966, Wilrijk, Belgium) have collaborated as an artist duo since the late 1980s. They use a wide range of media, including video, painting, sculpture, and photography. Their work has been exhibited in numerous solo exhibitions, including at Kunstverein München; Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; MoMA PS1, New York; Kunsthalle Wien; and Kunstverein Basel. They represented Belgium at the 58th Venice Biennale and have participated in numerous other biennials, such as the 5th Berlin Biennale and Manifesta 7, Trentino-Alto Adige. De Gruyter & Thys live in Brussels.

Micro Mundo 3
Collection M HKA / Collection Flemish Community, Antwerp

Micro Mundo 4
Private collection

Micro Mundo 5, 8, and 10
Courtesy of KIN

Die Vier von der Tankstelle
Commissioned and produced by steirischer herbst ʼ23

Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys at Artist Talks
22.9., 14:30–15:30

Installations

Demon Radio
Group exhibition