The role of man to his environment is the starting point for the exhibition 'Duotone' by two Rotterdam artists. Both artists examine the way in which man relates to his environment resulting in a dialogue between very different works of different media and techniques.
Through still lifes, Bert Frings explores the relationship between humans, nature and consumer society, while Gyz La Rivière focuses on the influence of urban environments and media on society. Both integrate everyday objects into their work. La Rivière incorporates found objects, archival images and collecting frenzy into his installations, readymades and films while Frings draws inspiration from seventeenth century vanitas still lifes with transience and inevitable death as their themes. Frings uses these themes to make the viewer reflect on the temporality of existence and the beauty therein. By using egg tempera on panel, a traditional painting technique dating back to the Middle Ages, he adds a historical depth to his painting. La Rivière explores the transience of media and technology: dead media and retro-futurism.
His oeuvre includes film, installations, graphic work, video art, neon works and publications. He is an idiosyncratic image archivist, working in the tension between restlessness and boredom, emptiness and abundance. He rules over his collection of visual puzzle pieces, illuminating “reality” from a different angle each time. From the idea of constantly trying to reinvent yourself in an ever-changing world. With new and existing images, objects from museum collections and his own archive, he forges a narrative that sharpens our view of the world around us in unexpected ways.