Gretchen Andrew Facetune Portraits, 2024
Presented by Gray Area
Facetune Portraits contemplate the near-ubiquitous contemporary practice of digital, AI-enabled body modification. Weaving conceptual and practical threads from traditions in both generative art and traditional portraiture, Gretchen Andrew creates oil paintings that examine changing perceptions of beauty in the algorithmic age.
Algorithmic filters—readily available on social media platforms and video communication tools—promise a more ‘appealing’ version of ourselves. Gretchen challenges this ideal by employing custom-built robotics to physically apply ‘beautifying’ algorithms on to wet oil paintings.
For her portraits presented by Gray Area, Gretchen worked with images of herself and celebrity figure Kim Kardashian. After using a special oil paint printer developed by Matr Labs to create each subject in paint, Gretchen uses her custom robotics to transform the image—applying a machinic stroke to paint algorithmic ‘beautifying’ changes to the subject’s appearance. The resulting Facetune Portraits render visible the dissonance between our natural state and the technologically-perfected image, coexisting uncomfortably on the canvas.
Gretchen Andrew manipulates systems of power with art, glitter and code. She is best known for her playful hacks on major art world and political institutions, including Frieze, The Whitney Biennial, Artforum, The Turner Prize, and The Next American President. In these digital performances she reimagines reality with art and desire. She does this by making assemblage “vision boards” that she programs to become top internet search results. The feminine and trivialized materials of her vision boards purposefully clash with the male-dominated worlds of AI, programming, and political control they also operate within. In Gretchen’s new Facetune Portrait series the artist uses custom robotics to physically apply popular “beautifying” AI algorithms into oil paintings. She trained in London with the artist Billy Childish from 2012-2017. In 2018 the V&A Museum released her book Search Engine Art. Gretchen’s work has recently been featured in Fast Company, Flash Art, The Washington Post, Fortune Magazine, Monopol, Wirtschaftswoche, The Los Angeles Times, Forbes, and The Financial Times.
Facetune Selfie, 2024
Oil on canvas
36 x 24 inches
Bodytune Kim Kardashian Selfie, 2024
Oil on canvas
36 x 24 inches
Facetune Selfie (LAAC), 2024
36 x 24 inches
Facetune Selfie (Alien), 2024
18 x 18 inches
Video – Untitled, Misc. process and BTS content. ~20 minutes. 1920 x 1080p HD vertical.