ALDI Nord I, black ink on recycled paper, 2018.

ALDI is a large grocery store chain founded by the Albrecht family, the first ALDI store opened in 1961 in Germany. After several years the Albrecht Brothers decided they could no longer work together and the company was divided into Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd. The ALDI Nord grocery bags feature a distinctive minimalist blue and white pattern, this two-tone shopping bag was designed at the beginning of the 1970s by Günter Fruhtrunk.

In Germany this pattern has become almost symbolic in its connection to the low-cost grocery store chain. Fruhtrunk, a geometrically abstract painter, had his work shown at Documenta and the Venice Biennale but his name and work remains relatively unknown. Maybe we can do something to change that and expose more of his work to a new audience. ALDI Nord I is my own interpretation of Fruhtrunk’s pattern printed in black and white on recycled paper with my own painted image superimposed over the iconic symbol.