Maria Cruz b. 1957

  • Artist (Installation Artist),
  • Artist (Video Artist),
  • Artist (Painter)
Maria Cruz is a Philippine-born Australian painter, videographer and installation artist who lives in Sydney and Berlin.
You are viewing the version of bio from July 14, 2011, 8:06 a.m. (moderator approved).
Revert to this revision Go to current record

Painter, videographer and installation artist Maria Cruz was born in Manila, Philippines, in 1957.

In 1976 she began her formal education in fine arts at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, though did not complete her studies. In 1980 Cruz relocated to Sydney to attend Sydney College of the Arts (SCA) in Roselle, where she completed her Bachelor of Visual Art in 1983 and immediately began her Post Graduate Studies in Visual Arts at the same institution. In 1985, Cruz moved temporarily to the Art Academy of Dusseldorf in Germany where she was influenced by the work of her professor, Klaus Rinke. Cruz resumed her studies at SCA in 1998 to complete her Master of Visual Arts.

Cruz makes use of various media, including installation and video, to explore physical and conceptual themes such as colour, language and globalisation.

Cruz has founded or co-founded several artist collectives including Shangri-La Collective, a group of female artists, and The Believers, formed with fellow artists Mikala Dwyer and Anne Ooms. Cruz was the curator of Shangri-La Collective’s self-titled video performance which was shown in 2003 at Artspace Visual Arts Centre, Sydney before touring to galleries in Australia and the Philippines.

In 1997 Cruz won the Portia Geach Portrait prize with a self-portrait, Maria . Other awards include the PS1 International Studio Program, New York (2000-01), Australia Council Artist Development and Project Grants (2000-01 and 1999) and the City of Hobart Contemporary Art Prize (2004). Cruz has been awarded several residencies including the Karl Hofer Gesselschaft Residency, Berlin, Germany (2005) and Artist-in-Residence at Canberra Institute of the Arts (1989).

Cruz has lectured in various Australian universities including Canberra School of Art, Australian National University, and SCA. She served as a senior lecturer at the University of Western Sydney’s School of Contemporary Arts, from 2000 to 2008.

Cruz shares her time between Berlin and Sydney. Her work is represented by Kaliman Gallery in Sydney and Galleria Duemila in Manila.

Writers:
De Lorenzo, Catherine
Quiros, Ana Maria
Date written:
2010
Last updated:
2011

Difference between this version and previous

Field This Version Previous Version
Related stub people
  • Dwyer, Mikala (associate of)
  • Rrap, Julie (associate of)
  • Ooms, Anne (associate of)
  • Newman, Elizabeth (associate of)
  • Rinke, Klaus (associate of)
Related stub person groups
  • Shangri-La Collective (associate of)
  • The Believers (associate of)
  • Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney, NSW (associate of)
  • Kaliman Gallery, Sydney, NSW (associate of)
  • Mori Gallery, Sydney, NSW (associate of)
Related people
  • Redgate, Jacky (associate of)
Related works
  • Remedial State (creator of)
  • Rosalina's Store (creator of)
  • Sari-sari (creator of)
  • You will make new friends (creator of)
  • Beautiful Boys (creator of)
  • Now or Never (creator of)
  • Mrs lennon (creator of)
  • Homesick (creator of)
  • Palette (with coins) (creator of)
  • No, No, No (creator of)
  • No Smoking (creator of)
  • Self Portrait (creator of)
  • Brown and Green (creator of)
  • One Thousand Nine Hundred Seventeen (creator of)
  • Three Thousand Twelve (creator of)
  • Noo (creator of)
  • Your daydreams reveal your ethnic background (creator of)
  • Voodoo (creator of)
Related collections
  • Monash University, Melbourne, NSW (collected in)
  • City of Hobart, Tasmania (collected in)
  • Allen Allen & Helmsley, Sydney, NSW (collected in)
  • Cruther's Collection of Women's Art, University of Western Australia, WA (collected in)
  • Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW (collected in)
  • Ateneo Art Gallery Collection, Manila, Philippines (collected in)
Related recognitions
  • Artist in Residence - Canberra Institute of the Arts (received)
  • Monash University Contemporary Art Prize (received)
  • Project Grant, Australia Arts Council (received)
  • Portia Geach Memorial Prize for Portraiture (received)
  • James Kentley Memorial Scholarship, University of Sydney (received)
  • City of Hobart Contemporary Art Prize (received)
  • PS1 International Studio Program, New York (received)
  • Asialink Grant, NSW Ministry of Arts (received)
  • Karl Hofer Gesellschaft Residency, Berlin, Germany (received)
Related events
  • Vertigo (exhibited at)
  • Victory Over the Sun (exhibited at)
  • Fresh Art (exhibited at)
  • Mist from the Chest (exhibited at)
  • Sites Unseen (exhibited at)
  • Architecture of Light (exhibited at)
  • Exhibition of Miniatures (exhibited at)
  • Rules for Drawing (exhibited at)
  • Here Not There (exhibited at)
  • Already Painting (exhibited at)
  • Localities of Desire (exhibited at)
  • State of Design (exhibited at)
  • Portia Geach Memorial Art Award (exhibited at)
  • Verve (exhibited at)
  • Opening Exhibition (exhibited at)
  • Strangers/Etrange (exhibited at)
  • Painting as Paradox (exhibited at)
  • Seven Beauties (exhibited at)
  • Un Australian (exhibited at)
  • Our Lucky Country 1 (exhibited at)
  • Our Lucky Country 2 (exhibited at)
  • What makes this poem beautiful? (exhibited at)
  • When I Liked Romantic Paintings (exhibited at)
  • Standards of Good and Bad (exhibited at)
  • That Occult and Metaphysical Quality of Gravity (exhibited at)
  • Feeling The Space (exhibited at)
  • Hard Times Are Over (exhibited at)
  • Homesick & Palettes (exhibited at)
  • No, No, No, (exhibited at)
  • Nothing in this World (exhibited at)
  • Coins (exhibited at)
  • One Million Dollars (exhibited at)
  • 1996-2008 Survey Exhibition (exhibited at)
  • Oo Selected Paintings and Projects (exhibited at)
  • Your Daydreams Reveal Something About Your Ethnic Background (exhibited at)
  • Philippines Oo Selected Paintings and Projects 1996-2009 Survey Exhibition (exhibited at)
  • Forty Six Thousand Two Hundred Seventy Three (exhibited at)
  • Give me Something (exhibited at)