BROOKLYN, NY.- At the dawn of the 21st century, sexuality and gender equality have emerged as the preeminent social rights struggles in the United States.

The headlines are all around us: Proposition 8, DADT, hate crime acts, Dan Choi, Ricky Martin, and so on. From meaningful to mindless, the public and the media are constantly challenging perceptions of human sexuality. Public statements regarding individual sexuality, are allowing public figures to increasingly integrate their private lives into their public persona. Ownership of a queer identity for political and celebrity personalities results in a “queering” of their past and their history. As queer rights and visibility increase, so do the resistance to them from our country’s religious and political conservative right. The scope of this social rights struggle spans private to public, and in many ways from present to past, and present to future.

It is within this challenging and captivating political and personal landscape that Andrew Robinson presents “Bloodlines”, his second solo show at EyeLevel BQE. Robinson has created a rich and challenging multimedia body of work by “queering” historical members of his and his partner’s family trees. Two historical relatives dominant this exploration; a general in Washington’s army, and the most dangerous guerilla female combatant the Dominican Republic has ever seen. Andrew Robinson challenges the content of his personal histories with stunning ceramics, perverse portraiture, and playful prints.

This selection of historically driven media is presented to the viewer in a series of blog inspired editorial groupings paired with aggressive headlines such as, “General’s Pansy Division Slaughters 88”. Robinson reveals singular narratives within this myriad of stories by pairing a cutting edge understanding of modern information design and incredible material sensitivity. This inspiring line of work shows Andrew’s depth as an artist, and his ability to powerfully engage contemporary concepts in his signature style, all with a healthy dose of dark humor.

It is surely Robinson’s ability to create work of this caliber that has earned him the prestigious Edward Albee Residency for July of this year. Make sure you come out to see this show, through May 2nd.