Low Bros: Postalgia

About the Exhibition: POSTALGIA, is the appropriated term and title for the new series of works by the artist‘s duo Low Bros. Addressing both the longing for the past, nostalgia, fused with the post, the abandonment of the present. POSTALGIA confronts the notion that when tomorrow comes it should emulate the past.  Taking everyday objects that hold a potency and personal nostalgia to Low Bros and inserting them into a dystopian landscape, subject to a physical alteration due to the environment they sit in a state dissolving, bleached, in decay, or corrosion. The arid landscapes illude to a possible future familiar. Inviting one to imagine an ambiguous landscape which simultaneously could be the downfall for humanity, with the advent of global warming and the impending droughts or seen as a triumph for humanity, placed upon an as of yet unpopulated Mars, both seemingly and immanently possible. The images and objects are themselves placed in juxtaposition holding suggestions of longing for control with contrived social warning clearly marked out by plastic A-frames and orange white barriers.

Low Bros reflect upon what is essential and at the crux of human existence. If we are just accustomed to a level of certainty and the habitual which is manifested through the objects and signifiers that we shroud ourselves in, how much do we impede our possibility for progress? Certain belief systems are entrenched, but social progress is not made possible without reevaluation of the assumed. In the current social-economic-ecological climate that we are facing, how do we not succumb to living in POSTALGIA ideals without impeding development?  –  Text by Michelle Houston

About the Artists: With one of the most unique aesthetics in Contemporary Street Art; Retro Futuristic duo The Low Bros are made up of Berlin based brothers Christoph and Florin Schmidt. Together, they examine the contradictions associated with identity in a digital age.

Whether looking forward or back, it is the ambivalence of contemporary life, the conflicts of progress and traditionalism which hold at the centre of their creative direction. The Low Bros suggest our generation as being one of fluidity; able to slip in and out of different roles like characters. These avatars assume the guise of animals inside of the Low Bro universe; an allusion to the primal instincts of humans nature. Contrastingly their forms resemble inorganic architectural structures, a nod of the urban surroundings of city dwelling people. Despite the abstract nature of their meticulous painterly approach, we recognise the emotional states of loneliness/isolation, strength/bravado inside of their surreal worlds.

Their unmistakable style is sharp and vivid, with light and shadow heightening the atmospheric ambiguity so often associated with their work. From minimalism to intricate coded imagery, a clear influence of design and illustration is inherent as structures appear as precise as they are complex. Nostalgia of a-time-gone-by features through the presence of objects belonging to their childhood and youth in the 80’s and 90’s.  From the streets through to galleries worldwide; the Low Bro aesthetic has evolved from a deeply personal subcultural past, to the collective cultural identity of an evermore metaphysical present.