Gretchen Andrew

Biography

Gretchen Andrew, born in 1988, is an American artist known for fusing traditional mediums such as painting and photography with advanced technology, most notably through her pioneering practice of 'search engine art.' After graduating from Boston College in 2010 with a degree in Information Systems, Andrew worked in Silicon Valley, including a position at Google, before leaving the tech industry to, in her words, 'hack the art world' using the technical skills she had developed. From 2013 to 2017, she trained as an apprentice under painter Billy Childish, grounding her technologically driven work in rigorous traditional oil painting technique. Andrew's search engine art practice involves strategically manipulating search engine optimization and online information systems so that her paintings and persona appear prominently in Google search results for major art events and institutions she has not been formally invited to participate in, a playful and pointed critique of who controls visibility and legitimacy within the art world. Her work explores portraiture, virtual reality, and the invisible systems of power embedded in search algorithms and online information architecture, aiming to make those hidden structures visible and contestable. Andrew has exhibited internationally, including with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and has been featured by institutions and publications including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Artnet News, and Gazelli Art House. She has also created NFT projects such as Crypto Mermaids, a collection of 250 unique PFP NFTs designed to support crypto education for those who feel isolated from or excluded by Web3. Across her work, Andrew positions herself as an 'Internet Imperialist,' using code, glitter, and traditional craft to hack systems of institutional and technological power.