The Painter

"ROTV 3 was, in fact, Emperor Ro's favourite channel. In the presence of a few loyalists, Emperor Ro would then – despite the urgency of other matters – be glued to the screen for hours and often could not stop laughing." Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys

De Schilder [The Painter] is an excerpt from the video ROTV 3, which is part of the installation Emperor Ro. In this video, the painter De Belder Guido struggles to find inspiration for a new canvas. He leaves his oppressive flat in the city and ventures out into nature in search of ideas. A long trek and many cigarettes later, he finds the ultimate subject for his painting: frites.

Jos de Gruyter and Harald Thijs met at the Sint-Lukas art school in Brussels and have been an artist duo ever since. De Schilder belongs to their early video work in which people from their entourage play stereotypical figures like "the artist". In their work, imaginary characters often appear as puppets, stuffed bears or non-professional actors. Out of a bleak reality that is often "too realistic", the duo spins morbidly absurdist fictions.