The Republic of Dark

On view: June 9- July 8 2018
Second Saturday Reception: June 9, 6-10 pm

The Republic of Dark is a body of work that began as an exploration of internal conflict, the initial sketches being figures in opposition to one another as surrogates of internal duels. But the concepts became more prescient and the figures, surrogates for the struggle between family members and friends within a divided nation. I was blindsided by what I felt was an existential threat with the election of Donald Trump. It seems as though our empire is in its twilight. Our country is conflicted and at a point of what seems like irreconcilable differences. Our own Hellenistic Period is upon us. Many of the plates borrow from Hellenistic tropes, or rather the Roman copying of them. Figures in roles of dominance and subordination, themes of conflict and death, psychological splits within a frame, or a general sense of tension and apprehension. The plates are fragmentary, cut and punctured, tarnished and corroded.

Born in Chicago in 1972, Andrew Au was influenced from an early age by science fiction, religion, reading and art. With each series of work he produces, he creates a working narrative that sets the parameters for the aesthetic conventions he uses. In recent series of works, he has treated memetic study as a pseudo-science, presenting cultural ideas as if they were living and evolving creatures. His works also challenge the notions of design being evident in life forms through a series of life products that will be evolved, rather than designed.
From 2004 – 2006, Andrew Au was an assistant professor of printmaking at the University of New Orleans. He currently teaches foundation studies at Miami University at Middletown, Ohio and maintains a studio with his wife in Cincinnati.