Standing in front of a Gretscher is to be enchanted. It comes replete with its own vocabulary, a constellation of symbols, characters and seeming allegories that describe a wholly original world that simultaneously reveals a refraction, often subtle sometimes stark, of our own. This language has layered, and found further intricacy over the past decade, but the core abstracted figures have remained totemic, with all the power the word infers. I see travellers, heroes, lovers and the occasional villain. I see gods - minor, apex, and more recently avian, all radiating, in dialogue with, Gretscher's ready, unique thesaurus. From one angle tantalisingly mysterious conversations, from the next, completely identifiable to the human story. Even the literal titles keep reflecting new interpretation as you turn them over in your mouth. For me his pieces bristle with the unfathomable magic of the Shakespearean canon: at once unparalleled and humanist. His colour, his organic delicacy, his mighty and meek symbols, all smack of an incredible story, of lasting drama.
words Toby Schmitz
"At times I am visited by impulses from the depth of the universe that occur to me as emotions. I give a colorful garment to these sensations; sometimes drawing a few lines is enough to make them all of a sudden visible."
"Da besuchen mich Impulse aus den Tiefen des Universums, in Form von Gefühlen. Ich lege diesen Gefühlen dann ein farbiges Gewand an, manchmal reichen schon ein paar Striche und plötzlich sind sie sichtbar."
selected solo exhibitions
2023 WHEN THE MOON IS SHINING AND IT IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY rhodes london rhodescontemporaryart.com
2023 MEET AND GREET galerie schemm galerie-schemm.de
2022 THE PRESENT IS A GIFT galerie C.O.A montreal www.galeriecoa.com
2019 RALPH WOODFORD RESIDENCY byron school of art byron bay australia
2018 THERE IS ENOUGH LIGHT galerie C.O.A montreal www.galeriecoa.com
2017 THIS CORNER OF THE ERATH LAUGHS AT ME private art residency sydney chippendale 1,5 month
2014 DEMONS DANCED ON FEATHERS - LEAVES LAUGHED IN THE AIR tischdecke.nl stuttgart
2013 SO BLACK IS BLUE private art residendy berlin mitte 2 month
2013 LOUD LIKE NATURE walden-kunstausstellungen berlin
2012 SILENCE IS A RHYTHM TOO skarltzers contemporary berlin
2011 DEN TITEL HABE ICH VERGESSEN, DIE GEISTER ABER HABEN IHN GEHÖRT
I FORGOT THE TITLE BUT THE SPIRITS HEARD IT skarlitzers contemporary berlin
2010 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A HUMAN skarlitzers contemporary berlin
2009 STORED MEMORIES walden-kunstausstellungen berlin
2008 DIE FARBE IST GELB/ THE COLOUR IS YELLOW supalife kiosk berlin
2007 I HAVE HEARD SHE LOST HER WOODEN ARM miss hecker berlin
selected group exhibition
2023 ARTWEEK BERLIN with atm gallery berlin
2023 LONDON GALLERY WEEKEND with rhodes contemporary art
2023 ART KARLSRUHE with atm gallery
2022 BERLIN ART WEEK atm gallery berlin
2022 HARDEDGE - CLEARCUT galerie schemm münster www.galerie-schemm.de
2022 ART KARLSRUHE ATM gallery karlsruhe
2021 JUNG & SCHÖN ATM gallery barlach halle k hamburg
2020 ÉCHAFAUDAGE C.O.A galerie montreal
2020 ALTER EGO unit london gallery london
2020 NEW POSITIONS phyton gallery zürich erlenbach
2019 CHROMA rhodes contemporary art summer group show london
2018 SCOPE ART FAIR MIAMI represented by C.O.A galerie
2018 SULPTURE WALK mullumbimby australia
2017 EAST WEST BERLIN atm gallery berlin
2017 WHAT THE WEEKEND IS GALLERY curated by the art union | gallery weekend berlin
2016 BLOOM ART FAIR COLOGNE
2016 HAPPY 19 karen gallery australia
2015 EIN STUDIO FÜNF KÜNSTLER DREI BILDER/ ONE STUDIO FIVE ARTISTS TREE WORKS
opening "studio hermann hase" berlin
2014 TITEL 172 - PRAHLEREI IST DIE BESTE AUSREDE AUF DEM ACKER kunstquartier bethanien berlin
2013 THE NEW STANDARD neu west berlin berlin
2012 REBELS AHEAD die kunstagentin cologne
2011 A MOMENTARY STAY AGAINST CONFUSION horten gallery berlin
2010 3 EXHIBITION pure evil london newcastle project space london
2010 SKARLITZERS CONTEMPORARY SHOWCASE skarlitzers contemporary art & stroke 0.3 berlin
2008 URBAN FEEDBACK alte markthalle basel
2007 HINTERCONTI GALLERY hamburg
2006 HINTERCONTI GALLERY hamburg
2004 EIN FREUND DER FAMILIE 2 reiterkaserne stuttgart
2001 EIN FREUND DER FAMILIE reiterkaserne stuttgart