137:"As far I can remember, I don't think there was a moment that I didn't consider myself an artist. It's all I can remember. I remember in elementary school, I would spend my recess time in the art room. Once, I slipped out of class early to head to the art room and my home room teacher caught me. She gave me the ultimate punishment by making me go outside to play. It was terrifying! She knew me well."
295:, constructed costumes and rags, I layer my paintings and build up their surfaces in an attempt to make visible the queer body, to dress it, and depict the space where it exists. Whether I layer sound over sound or cover a painted figure in chocolate paint, I use seduction to prompt the viewer to question and negotiate what is being offered while partially obscuring the familiar."
253:, said, "It's a lot to take in, at times confusing at first glance. Broken plates, hidden images behind thick dripping chocolate and white paint, fragile paper planes, chairs, period piece costumes, and splinters of glass in sparkling red high heel shoes are paired with screams, opera singing, and hysterical laughter. A second commission by the
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Cruz was brought up in a traditional Puerto Rican home. "Growing up, I was a very quiet boy, I kept to myself. I spent my time drawing, painting and making things. Paint was the most natural way I could really express myself. I didn't feel conformable speaking or writing."
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Cruz "use painting, video, sculpture, and costume-making to map out a queer, diasporic experience", usually a narrative "that has been suppressed" when discussing "Puerto Rican migration". He wrote, "Through a variety of new and found materials, such as enamel,
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In
Philadelphia and New York, his identity was never contested, but, during his first exhibit in Puerto Rico, David was talked about as a "foreign" artist. It totally took him by surprise. "I felt like I didn't belong here nor there."
314:" stating that "personal narratives, American and queer history events, classic films, and fashion" anchor his work. In addition, he also "reinterpret invisible histories" those of "a migrating people and the queer body".
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were also part of the performance. The work, like the artist, has an emotional intensity. Cruz has said, "I am a bit of a drama queen and I'm not apologizing for it." Sasha Dees, reviewing for
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74:(born 1974) is an interdisciplinary artist working in drawing, painting, video, and performance. Cruz is best known for his psychological paintings that combine
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153:. Cruz's work represents the life of those migrating families that either left their homeland, stayed, or went back and are divided between two places.
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Cruz not only pushes the limits of his artistic media, but also the ways artists can represent psychological spaces related to
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Later that year, his paintings were included in a year-long exhibition,
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Cruz was commissioned by El Museo del Barrio with support from the
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Spaces. His films have been shown at the Big Screen
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86:. His work has been shown in a number of venues, including
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388:2016 Project for Empty Space Artist in Residence,
404:2011 Urban Artist Initiative Award, New York, NY
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622:"Gateway Project Spaces: Resident David Cruz"
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590:"Antonio Cruz: The Return of the Dirty Boys"
124:Skowhegan School for Painting and Sculpture
419:Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
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636:"DAVID ANTONIO CRUZ TAKEABITE: THE OPERA"
317:His work has been reviewed many times in
110:. At the age of nineteen, Cruz moved to
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298:The artist cites "the fantasy world of
667:"David Antonio Cruz: Artist Statement"
540:"David Antonio Cruz – alwaysagoodtime"
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604:"David Antonio Cruz: alwaysagoodtime"
278:Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
261:(originally performed in 2008 at the
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508:"2015 RESIDENT: DAVID ANTONIO CRUZ"
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481:"D A V I D A N T O N I O C R U Z"
394:2015 LMCC Workspace, New York, NY
274:Portraiture Now: Staging The Self
427:2006 Artist in the Marketplace,
263:Governor's School for the Arts
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411:at Norfolk Fellowship Award,
257:to re-stage the performance,
374:Painters and Sculptors Award
126:and the AIM program at the
29:1974 (age 49–50)
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538:Dees, Sasha (2014-03-17).
725:Yale School of Art alumni
671:National Portrait Gallery
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255:Bronx Council on the Arts
429:Bronx Museum of the Arts
421:Fellowship Grant Award,
372:Joan Mitchell Foundation
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379:BRICworkspace Residency
332:The Wall Street Journal
198:Anthology Film Archives
106:artist who was born in
730:Pratt Institute alumni
650:"Other (performances)"
512:Gateway Project Spaces
365:Exhibitions and awards
221:Franklin Furnace Fund
699:DavidAntonioCruz.com
570:Artist Pension Trust
566:"David Antonio Cruz"
485:davidantoniocruz.com
306:and the politics of
235:singer, and a small
178:Museo de Puerto Rico
63:DavidAntonioCruz.com
166:El Museo del Barrio
88:El Museo del Barrio
320:The New York Times
174:Jersey City Museum
112:Brooklyn, New York
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715:1974 births
423:Madison, ME
413:Norfolk, CT
338:Journal USA
210:Los Angeles
206:Chapel Hill
190:Momenta Art
80:abstraction
709:Categories
680:2020-07-23
575:2016-04-13
551:2020-07-23
517:2016-04-13
490:2016-04-13
463:2016-04-13
458:npg.si.edu
390:Newark, NJ
344:The Studio
231:singer, a
223:to create
114:to attend
102:Cruz is a
90:, and the
76:figuration
289:gold-leaf
276:, at the
241:Elia Alba
237:orchestra
225:The Opera
162:diasporic
158:queerness
151:migration
130:in 2006.
48:Education
383:Brooklyn
440:Sources
300:Dorothy
84:collage
58:Website
357:, and
212:, and
184:, the
168:, the
145:Career
82:, and
433:Bronx
417:2006
407:2009
397:2013
377:2018
370:2018
308:Maria
293:china
229:opera
214:Miami
186:Islip
435:, NY
385:, NY
354:BOMB
243:and
233:jazz
41:U.S.
26:Born
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