b. 1976

The work of Nicholas Straube uses both heavy charcoal and oils to evoke his emotional response to contemporary American politics and values. His interest in ambiguous conflict is interpreted with a degree of mocking self-awareness; he sees his own interior monologue as something to be ridiculed, whilst maintaining intelligent reasoning behind the informed narrative. Straube encourages us to laugh at the new adherence to conformity and 'the sacred' in the U.S., but his serious depiction of these attitudes is robust. For example, 'Saint Nick the Cabbage Peddler and the Martyrs of Free Enterprise' explores the conflict between festivals we uphold and their obsolete rituals and meanings. It makes reference to Caravaggio's 'David and Goliath', confronting mortality. Indeed much of Straube's work contains oblique references to the work of other artists, rooting him in a tradition from which he can exercise his acerbic wit, and produce an exceptionally original commentary on modern America's socio-political landscape.

Nicholas Straube was born in Wisconsin in 1976, where he is currently working after five years living in New York. His work has featured in group shows in the U.S., most notably Aftershock at Dickinson New York in 2003.