born in 1984 in Manila (Philippines)
Each artwork is created by the artist from a canvas previously painted, where he copied the Flemish and Post-Renaissance masters. Apparently without a logical scheme, Cruz applies layer by layer the dense oil colour, not only hiding, rather mystifying the classical backdrop.
In this way the artist explores, through his artworks, the deep relationship between the canvas and its meaning, past and present, figuration and abstraction.
The figures of the classical paintings that transpire below, remind the viewer of the painstaking pictorial activity and the artistic historical baggage of the contemporary painter.
Personal Exhibition (selected)
2016Smudging dirty little touch, Albertz Benda, New York, NY
2015Subtraction Paradise, ARNDT, Berlino
Deep down into the ecstasy of false modernism, Primo Marella Gallery Milan, Milano
Smudging Dirty Little Touch, Albertz Benda, New York, NY
Surface Default, Light & Space Contemporary, Quezon City
2012Glitch Habitation, Primae Noctis Art Gallery, Lugano
Spatial Soother, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
Birth of the Parti Bantam Paintings, Ronac Art Center, San Juan City, Philippines
Dead End, West Gallery, Quezon City, Philippines
Anti Depressants on Paper, Crucible Gallery, Mandaluyong City
Constructing Deconstruction, Tala Gallery, Tomas Morato, Quezon City, Philippines 2008 Swing, Blanc Art
Space, Makati City, Philippines
Group Exhibition (selected)
2015A3 Presents: Wasak! Filipino Art Today, ARNDT, Berlino
2014Manila: The Night is Restless, The Day is Scornful, ARNDT Singapore, Singapore
2013Abstrakt, Contemporary Fine Arts - CFA, Berlino
Abstrakt, Galerie Michael Haas, Berlino
Ohne Titel, Light & Space Contemporary, Quezon City
Impending Doom Theory, Light & Space Contemporary, Quezon City
Anti-war=anti-orgasm, Light & Space Contemporary, Quezon City
Star Cruiser Sopas Collision, Now Gallery, Makati City
Latitudes. Encounters With The Philippines Part 2, Primo Marella Gallery Milan, Milano
Munnyfestation, Blanc, Quezon City
2010Happy Unhappy, Blanc, Quezon City
2009Figuration Now, Paseo Gallery, Mandaluyong City
A Book About Death: An unbound book on the subject of death, Emily Harvey Space, New York, USA
If You Only Walk Long Enough, Studio 83, Singapore
Looking for Juan, Cultural Center of the Philippines
BOXED, Cubicle Art Space – Pasig City
2004Philippine Art Awards, Philippine National Museum, Manila
