Danny Gretscher: Berlin to Byron

Byron Bay, 2021

DANNY GRETSCHER

Berlin to Byron, 2011-2021

Opening Saturday December 4th, 6-8pm

Exhibition Sun-Tues December 5-14th, 11-5pm

Quartz Gallery, Byron Bay, NSW

Upstairs at Mercato in Byron, 108-114 Jonson St, Byron Bay

A retrospective of work created by Danny Gretscher over the past decade between Berlin and Byron Bay.

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“It is an old tradition to study mysterious entities, their meanings and powers. Their impact on the visible and the invisible is what inspires Danny Gretscher in his work as well as his urge to consciously get closer than us humans usually do to what is the origin of things.”

- Gibbs Rosa, 2011

Growing up in both east and west Germany, Danny Gretscher studied graphic design in Stuttgart before turning toward fine art. He moved to Berlin in the early 2000s, where he was an elusive and prolific figure in the early street art movement, known only as Kowalski.

Balancing abstract and concrete, conceptual and figurative, Gretscher’s imagery draws heavily on his surroundings, both seen and unseen. Much as the visible manifestation of each spirit is said to be unique, both appearing and disintegrating simultaneously, Danny's imagery develops the possibility of inconsistent and illogical forms. His essential struggle is to defy limitations and conceptualisations. The tensions arising from the deliberate clash of different powers reveal a multitude of emotions and by exploring their intersections, the artist questions our understanding of what is normal.

Giving a voice to the natural and spirit world, Gretscher’s layered textures and bird-like forms have become a signature of his work over the past decade, his thesaurus of crystals, rainbows, mountains and crowns informing the totemic beings. Emerging five years ago from a deep urban residency in Berlin to the lush hinterland of Byron Bay, the plant world has increasingly integrated into his composite beings; vibrant occupants of a flamboyant new world that reacquaint our senses.

Outside of his studio practice, Gretscher continues to make his mark in public space, his abstract figures gracing the walls of  Wategos, Habitat, Lateen Lane and Byron’s Arts & Industrial Estate, in addition to galleries in Australia, Berlin, London and Montreal.

Berlin to Byron celebrates the passage of work between these two locations that have been key to the development of the artist’s career.

Image above: Danny Gretscher, Habitat, Byron Bay, November 2018