L’AVANT GALERIE VOSSEN at PARIS PHOTO 2024 in the digital sector, an invitation by Nina Roehrs - Roehrs & Boetsch

Gretchen Andrew (American, b. 1988) is known for her unique merger of traditional artistic mediums such as photography and oil paint with advanced technologies such as robotics, algorithm and artificial intelligence.
For Paris Photo 2024, Gretchen Andrew explores what happens if photography, technology, and traditional painting cross paths. In her new series Facetune Portraits she merges traditional art forms and custom robotics, applying popular AI-driven beauty filters directly onto photographic portraits printed in wet oil paint.
Left with a striking contrast, the viewer gets drawn into the tension between our natural selves and the digital ideals imposed by technology. Gretchen challenges these ideals. The unaltered human face coexists with the algorithmically 'perfected' version readily available on social media platforms and video conferencing tools, resulting in a double portrait, taken by the artist herself.
Facetune Portraits reveal the tension between who we are and who AI says we should be, asking which aspects of our identity are altered or erased in this process.
What is preserved, and what is lost?