Published in 2019 on Barbe Urbain
Roeland Tweelinckx & Just Quist
'allo 'allo
In their duo-exposition, Roeland Tweelinckx (Kontich, 1971) and Just Quist (Rotterdam, 1965) engage in a double play: paintings morph into sculptures, sculptures turn out to be part trompe l’oeil, and functional objects that appear to be part of the gallery space turn out to be parts of a sculptural installation.
In Allo allo Tweelinckx and Quist join forces to redouble the impact of their individual aesthetic vision, and collectively they engage the visitor in a critical reflection in the predicament we find ourselves in, in a world saturated by digital images and selfrepresentation and endless communication. Most of the objects that populate the artistic universe of Roeland Tweelinckx appear to be functional apparatuses and objects: hot water radiators (found in most houses), medium sized ventilation grilles (found in office buildings around the world), red bricks and H-beams (staple products in housing construction), fire extinguishers, carton boxes... Not the kind of objects that make up the core of most contemporary mixed media sculptures, but essential elements of our everyday living environment. In addition, Tweelinckx’s more recent workincorporates more delicate and homely but still functional objects: abradedporcelain vases and plywood side tables found in thrift stores. Taking his cue from these functional homely objects, Tweelinckx then takes two decisive steps that force us to ask difficult questions about the status or art (and art history) today and about how it relates to our post-digital world of simulacra and illusion. In a first step, Tweelinckx isolates these functional objects from their natural habitat. In that sense, his work seems to be a critical continuation of a well known Dadaist and surrealist practice, in which a found object is invested with almost magical qualities simply by taking it out of its ordinary context, stripping it from its functionality and placing it within the confined space of the museum.
But nothing is what it seems. Tweelinckx takes a decisive second step that renders his work deeply critical of both the Dadaist tradition and of the pos …
