Quite Quiet hints at a condition in a transitional state. It is in a certain way the relativation of a situation or a feeling, while also describing its instability. Something could be already quite quiet, in the sense that a situation has calmed down. Or someone could observe a situation from a point where it is quite quiet, thus relatively quiet compared to the situation he/she observes. Quite Quiet could also point to a situation that is spinning out of control- a situation which is is still quite quiet, as in the calm before the storm.

 

It is those kind of transitional states that Tino Geiss contextualizes in his collages. Through the unique technique he uses to create his works, he displays the instability laying behind these seemingly inconspicuous subjects. In his collages perspectives are being distorted and pulled apart. The surface is being broken and begins to whir. The background jumps to the fore while the foreground is being pushed back. Interiors and bouquets of flowers suddenly become defragmented objects. To reach this effect the choice of his material plays a major part in the creation of the collages. By recycling the masking tape used to make his paintings, the colour patterns left on those tapes, give a distinct materiality to the objects and space in his works.

 

In his latest series Stripes, Geiss explores this materiality further. Attempting to reproduce the stripes he assembled over the years as paintings, he is confronted with more formal aspects and questions of painting itself. Not only are those stripes carrier of the information which techniques and tools Geiss‘ used to apply the color on the canvas. He now is put before the difficulties to reproduce this spontaneous act and develop ways and techniques to make it seem spontaneous again. Which might also well be one of the essential questions in art itself- how do i mould chaos into a (creative) form without making it seem lifeless. In terms of his working methods it also closes a circle: starting from painting, to utilising stripes of masking tape derived out of those paintings to producce his collages, leading him back to paint those stripes. In this sense this exhibition tries to close a circle by offering you a glimpse into the way the artist works in his studio, juxtaposing a work and the working materials in an installation in the Box, while at the same time making the transition into the gallery space with a well balanced display of his works. 

 

Sofie Verbrugghen and Olaf Pradhan, May 2016