Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys: Elegantia at Triennale Milano

The Palazzo dell’Arte at La Triennale di Milano will host Elegantia, the first institutional exhibition in Italy by Belgian duo Jos de Gruyter (1965) and Harald Thys (1966), curated by Francesco Garutti. The show explores the concept of display and its failure, presenting a model of an authorless, two-dimensional exhibition that mirrors the space of the mind. On the first floor, white marble sculptures and heavy two-dimensional metal figures with unsettling faces (White Elements, 2012-2016) will be displayed. Other works include portraits from Les Enigmes de Saarlouis (2013), raw clay sculptures from the disturbing ceramic laboratory Der Schlamm von Braanst (2008), small experiments on the human form (White Elements, prototipos, 2016), and a series of ambiguous watercolors (Fine Arts, 2015). An android-like indoor fountain titled De Drie Wijsneuzen (2013) will conclude the enigmatic classical exhibition. Garutti describes the show as a staging of the idea of an exhibition itself, a mental reflection, a mirage of an installation. The exhibition draws inspiration from the hypertrophic history of Triennale's displays and aims to reveal what lies hidden behind apparent normality. Garutti hopes the exhibition becomes a place, a physical form of a mental space, similar to the duo's 2010 show at Kunsthalle Basel where doors closed behind each visitor, immersing them in a parallel world.