Mideo Cruz is a Phillipine cross-disciplinary artist and activist who is popularly known for the controversial artworks being exhibited in the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He also participates in various artistic and cultural movements that contribute to nation building. Check out this article for Mideo Cruz's biography, from his early life to his education, career, famous artworks, awards and recognitions.
Early Life, Education and Background
Mideo Cruz was born in 1973 in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. His mother was a public school teacher while his father was a retired Marine, and both had four children of which Mideo is the youngest. Growing up, he loved painting and drawing and this led to him picking an interest in art. Some of his influences include Filipino artistes like Benedicto Cabrera, Fernando Amorsolo, and Juan Luna.
For his education, Mideo Cruz the University of Santo Tomas (UST) where he acquired a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts. While in school, he was able to experiment with various techniques and forms of art like installation, sculpture, and painting.
Career
Mideo Cruz started his career as an artist in 1992 when he co-founded UGATLahi, a cultural group that is aimed at liberating, empowering, and educating people using art as a tool. The group staged streets protests and made postals, graffiti, and murals that that criticized the Phillipine government.
In 2000, he initiated New World Disorder, an international artists network that was made of artists of different background and from different countries who criticized globalization and capitalism. They also organized art exchanges, workshops, exhibitions and festivals that showed radical and alternative perspective of the world.
In 2011, he was part of the 32 artists who made a group exhibition at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) that explored the theme of “Rizal as Art, Art as Rizal”, in commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of the national hero Jose Rizal. His installation, titled “Poleteismo,” sparked a national debate on freedom of expression, censorship, religion, and aesthetics because it depicted various political and religious icons in a sacrilegious and satirical manner.
Other Mideo Cruz famous artworks include “Ziggurat,” which is a series of pyramid-looking sculptures that are made of materials like shoes, books, tincans, trophies, etc, and “Mga Anak ng Bayan” (Children of the Nation) which is a series of paintings that depicted children in various situations of oppression, violence, and poverty.
Awards and Recognitions
Some of the awards and recognitions that Mideo Cruz has received as a result of his artistic and activist endeavours include the 13 Artists Award from the CCP in 2003, the Ateneo Art Awards from the Ateneo de Manila University in 2006, and a recognition from the the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Fellowship in 2008 which enabled him to participate in residencies at the Headlands Art Center in California and PointB Worklodge in New York.
Conclusion
Today, Mideo Cruz is believed to be one of the most provocative and prominent artist in Phillipines. His famous artworks pose a challenge to the values and norms of the Phillipine society and provoke creative and critical thinking among people who come across them.
As an activist, he also uses his arts as an avenue for resisting the inequalities and injustices that affliction the Phillipines.
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