Gretchen Albrecht
Collages 1988–1989

In September 1988 Gretchen Albrecht’s first show in Europe opened at Todd Gallery London featuring 11 collages. Established by Jenny Todd, now Director of Two Rooms, Todd Gallery’s location on Portobello Road in Notting Hill was at the heart of the new London art scene. Following this Albrecht mounted two more exhibitions in 1988 and 1989 at Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland featuring  larger collages and a selection at Rob Gardiner’s The Centre of Contemporary Art, Hamilton in 1990. The series has not been shown in New Zealand since. Now gathered altogether, their reprise at Two Rooms represents the 30th anniversary of their public debut.

These collages can be considered the most fragmented and restless of Albrecht’s ouevre. Suspended in an open-ended space, their strategic irresolution exudes a confident, cathartic energy. While some may associate Albrecht’s better known paintings with immersive or mediative qualities, these works operate differently – they push back. In this reiteration of Albrecht’s original exhibition, the viewer is afforded an opportunity to encounter this unique series drawn together while retracing its signals of future developments.