GRETCHEN ALBRECHT

Nearly forty-five years separates the two groups of paintings in this show. Three, from herIlluminations series, which have never been exhibited publically before, date from the late1970s. The other four are recent works, 2022-2023. Obviously a lot has happened over theyears between them and, not surprisingly, the earlier and later paintings manifest cleardifferences. The Illuminations have a more spontaneous, improvised and fluid cast, as if thoseangular narrow bands of mostly light colour could change direction as we look. Suddenelectrical discharges, small explosions, whether in the sky or brain, come to mind. Their titlesderive from a set of poems by the precocious French writer Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891),filtered through a like-inspired musical composition of Benjamin Britten. Rimbaud’sIlluminations are marked by their visceral, edgy, epiphanic intensities; his words suddenrecognitions of acute feeling and wonder. Allowing for the differences of medium, that is alsoan apt characterisation, not just of Gretchen Albrecht’s own Illuminations, but also, in part, ofthe new paintings. The latter, in contrast though, are relatively ordered, stable, harmoniouscompositions, the colour denser and higher keyed, their formats ‘landscape’ and hemispherical,the titles signalling more particular inspirational sources in natural and physical phenomena, asexperienced by the artist. Spanish Smoke, for example, a field a rich yellow and russet browndisturbed by sweeps of black, could evoke a wildfire’s aftermath, with a nod to the blacks ofGoya and the associations they generate.