Introduction
Why wouldn't the puppets, mannequins, severed heads, and other effigies crafted by Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys be entitled to accept an invitation to travel? Since the late 1980s, the Belgian duo has produced unsettling works, marked by an incisive and disturbing humor. The four sharp-tongued German shepherds from the series Die Vier von der Tankstelle, at the wheel of a battered black Mercedes, are no exception. Deemed worthy of the privilege, they leave behind the Kunsthaus Biel to roam, across these pages, through landscapes that feel eerily familiar. Over the course of this journey through a fantasized Central Europe-by turns absurd and menacing the four protagonists confront us, with biting irony, with the stereotypes of fear and political danger. The music accompanies the series, inviting readers to extend this strange visual odyssey into sound: Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler.
Credits
Jos De Gruyter & Harald Thys, Die Vier von der Tankstelle, 2023
©2025 Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys
Courtesy of the artists
Produced for Steirischer Herbst, 2023 in Graz.
Produced for Magma, 2025.
Photographs Fabrice Schneider
Post-production Alexandre Billot