In an era of infinite filters and flawlessly curated feeds, Gretchen Andrew is peeling back the gloss to expose the algorithms behind the illusion. Her latest exhibition, Facetune Portraits: Universal Beauty, opens this month at London’s Hope 93 Gallery, a provocative 100-piece portrait series that confronts the algorithmic collapse of global beauty standards.
Known for her fusion of technology and traditional media, Andrew blends oil painting, custom robotics, and AI-driven systems to materialise the digital distortions we’ve come to accept as aesthetic norms. In this new series, the London-based artist presents dual portraits of 100 Miss Universe contestants, one half unaltered, the other digitally “perfected.”
Andrew’s path to art is as unconventional as her practice. Before picking up a paintbrush, she built a career in Silicon Valley, with roles at Google and Intuit. Her breakout moment came in 2019 when she hacked the art world, literally, by manipulating search engine results to surface her work in queries for elite art events. She coined the term “Search Engine Art” and established herself as the world’s first “Search Engine and Internet Imperialist Artists.”
“Facetune Portraits: Universal Beauty is about reclaiming the true meaning of beauty and celebrating our differences rather than erasing them.” Andrew says. “When you see these portraits, you witness the literal contortion of identity that happens beneath the screens. It isn’t just art, it’s a resistance against a future where algorithms dictate our self-image..”
Andrew doesn’t simply critique digital conformity, she renders it tangible. The result is a striking visualisation of reality colliding with desire. Every brushstroke, every painterly contradiction records the conflict between natural identity and an AI-imposed ideal.
Running from April 25 – May 29, the exhibition debuts at Hope 93 in Fitzrovia, a bold new gallery devoted to inclusivity and the amplification of underrepresented artists. The show arrives at a particularly urgent cultural moment, when homogenised beauty ideals, shaped not by people but by code, are fed to us with every scroll.
Hope 93 founder Aki Abiola was instantly drawn to Andrew’s work, “She’s a true innovator, highlighting issues in the world that are affecting younger generations and causing them to feel trapped by conforming to other’s people’s perception of what is beautiful or important. Art should trigger emotions and this work does just that. “
It’s this kind of urgent, dialogue-driving art that embodies Hope 93’s mission. Since its launch in September 2024, the gallery has become a vital platform for underrepresented voices in contemporary art. “Shockingly, 51% of artists today are women, but only make up 14%of living artists represented by galleries in Europe and North America. By showcasing the extraordinary talent of female artists, such as Gretchen, this is something we hope to change.” Says Abiola.
Andrew’s work is a bold reminder that identity, like art, was never meant to be uniform. And it’s a message that resonates well beyond gallery walls, especially with audiences raised on the aesthetics of digital self-curation.
Facetune Portraits: Universal Beauty, By Gretchen Andrew, exhibits at Hope 93 Gallery from 25th April – 29th May 2025. For more information go to www.hope93.com.
