Taymour Grahne Projects is pleased to present Of A Place, a solo exhibition by Brooklyn and New Jersey based artist Gretchen Scherer, opening on February 25 between 5-7pm at the Notting Hill space (1 Lonsdale Road) as part of a joint opening across our 3 spaces.

"To be of a place is that moment where for a brief pocket of time you are the eyes of that place looking back on itself when it is pleased with itself. . . . you are caught in a kind of delightful stewardship and entanglement with that place.” – Martin Shaw

To peer into Gretchen Scherer’s practice is to dive into a world of grandiosity, one filled with embellished furniture, ornate interiors, and curious artifacts. Referencing stately rooms from historic estates, Scherer rebuilds and reworks these impressive interiors, adorning her canvases with floor to ceiling decadence and detail. The paintings evoke a story in the genre of historical fiction; combining elements of history with fantasy to create brand new settings steeped in grandeur and tradition.

To create these intricate environments, Scherer begins with extensive research. Using the internet, books, movies, and television, the artist researches the history and collection of each space. To create Sir John Soane’s Museum, Breakfast Room, for example, Scherer scoured the archives at Sir John Soane’s Museum, the home of a renowned neo-classical architect. Packed withshelves of old books, family portraits and hand-crafted furniturethe work assembles a sort of cabinet of curiosities from plaster casts found in the museum’s collection. Busts of all shapes and sizes can be found on the ceiling of the breakfast room. Sculptures of famous figures and animal heads are mingled with floral motifs and collected natural artifacts, each with a different character – some are pleasant, some are mischievous, some are frowning. Scherer adds her own twist to these historical representations, attaching a playful nature to an otherwise stoic setting.

Scherer’s paintings invite the viewer to lose themselves in lofty rooms packed with elegance and rich detail. Capturing the tradition and charm of historic estates, Scherer weaves together antiquity with imagination in these carefully crafted compositions.

Gretchen Scherer received a BFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and graduated with an MFA from Hunter College. She is the recipient of a Graf travel grant to Berlin and has attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and The Vermont Studio Center Residency. Scherer’s work was recently highlighted in Harper’s Bazaar Latin Art Issue in “Artists to Follow in 2022”, and in New York Magazine by Jerry Saltz in “The Best Art Shows of 2021”. Scherer currently lives and works in Brooklyn and West Creek, New Jersey, and the artist is represented by Monya Rowe Gallery.