David Antonio Cruz icutfromthemiddletogetabetterslice
Front Cover: likelambsinthemeadow,i’llfollowyou, 2021 (detail) Back Cover: andweburncandles,sage,cooktheirfavoritefoods,carrycharmswith pictures,playsongs,andpresentflowers,fruits,andburnincensetothem., 2021 (detail)
David Antonio Cruz icutfromthemiddletogetabetterslice November 6 - December 18, 2021
Essay by Susanna V. Temkin, PhD. Edited by Staci Boris Photographed by Robert Chase Heishman
This catalogue was published on the occasion of David Antonio Cruz’s second solo exhibition at Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.
©2021
Table of Contents Introduction
11
Essay
15
Installation views
20
Artworks
30
Biographies
53
Introduction
moniquemeloche is thrilled to present icutfromthemiddletogetabetterslice, a solo exhibition of new paintings by David Antonio Cruz. This is Cruz’s second exhibition with the gallery. icutfromthemiddletogetabetterslice explores the notion of chosen family: the non-biological bonds between queer people, based in mutual support and love. Each painting depicts the likeness of the artist’s own community, and at the same time the portraits strive to capture much more than the physical representation of the figures; they venerate the overall structure of queer relationships, captured through intimate moments of touch, strength, support, and celebration. Created during a time of upheaval, isolation, and urgency, this new body of paintings and multilayered drawings offers a moment of reprieve, inviting members of the queer community to gather alongside their chosen kin. An integral element to queer survival, the term chosen family describes the relationships that develop as surrogates for the nuclear family, defined not by the parameters of genetics or marriage, but by shared exchanges of unconditional validation and acceptance. The resulting images—a series of reconstructed and intergenerational family portraits celebrating BIPOC queer resilience and autonomy—offer a quiet dismantling of the societal structures, expectations, and hierarchies long imposed on them. Cruz presents a landscape of bodies depicted in lush, operatic spaces, a mandala of amaranthine touch that captures the physicality of connection. Fragmented and upended figures supersede the landmark posture characteristic of patrician portraiture over the canon of art history. The playful sensuality is further underscored by seductive textures and glittering palettes, offering opulently glamorous patterns and colors. Assertive gazes convey both a sense of empowerment and vulnerability, inviting the viewer to share in this experience of tender solidarity. Each work is further imbued with Cruz’s multilayered visual vocabulary and codification, centered on the queer narrative; warped priapic symbols are hidden throughout, while some patterns recall the faint outline of little birds and butterflies, a play on language that subverts derogatory terms in queer life. Ceiba trees, found in Mexico, the Caribbean, and West Africa, are carefully rendered in wax pencil in recognition of the colossal strength developed within the roots of these kindred chosen family trees. Each thoughtful portrait presents a means of responding to the complex struggles and restrictive binaries imposed on queer people of color, presenting empowered depictions of authenticity as a form of resilience and an unapologetic celebration of queer life.
Essay
come in, love, we kin1. by Susanna V. Temkin, PhD. In his most recent series of paintings, David Antonio Cruz celebrates the concept of chosen family through intimate representations of queer kinship. Partners, friends, lovers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and other relations are portrayed in canvases that expand both normative notions of family and the traditional genre of portraiture2. Privileging agency over bloodline, the series honors the living bonds between members of the artist’s own community, who actively collaborated in the making of the works through both dialogue and extended portraiture sessions. Initiated in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when concepts of home, family, and connection took on new meanings, Cruz’s paintings offer timely reconsiderations of the possibilities of kinship based on mutual feelings of love, choice, and affinity. Combining abstract passages with recognizable elements, Cruz’s compositions situate the family groups in undefined – or rather undefinable – spaces. This ambiguous context reinforces the liberatory notion of siting home within and among one another, rather than in a specific place of fixed origin. This is visualized in the diverse and intersectional figures depicted in the paintings, whose bodies lean against, lie upon, reach toward, and physically uplift each other through their poses and touch. Such compositions embody a sense of mutual support through their collective ensembles, as in the stridently hued canyoustaywithmetonight_causeyouarehere,youarehere,andweareherewithyou.
The
work
borrows
from the art historical tradition of regentessenstuk (Dutch regent group portraiture) featuring groups of board or guild members; however, while such precedents decorously recognized those united by civic association, canyoustaywithmetonight, revels in the more personal relationships among the nine individuals represented, whose entangled limbs at image center reflect the strength of their bond, literally joining the two diptych panels. 1 Kai M. Green. “In the Life: On Black Queer Kinship.” Women, Gender, and Families of Color, Vol. 7, No. 1,
“Black Girlhood and Kinship” (Spring 2019), p. 101. For each painting, Cruz asked friends and acquaintances to consider who was their chosen family. While some selected a single person, others invited an expansive group. The artist then traveled to their respective locations around the U.S. to host each family in specially designed portrait sessions accompanied by food and music to create a warm and inviting sense of home. Linking Cruz’s painterly practice with his background in performance, the conversations held during the sessions inspired some of the poetic titles of the paintings.
2
Other works allude to the vulnerability of queer kinship which does not conform to conventional hierarchies or societal expectations. Cruz counters such external threats by surrounding his figures within an ambiance of comfort and safety. Soft fabrics and enveloping furniture seem to hug and cushion each grouping within warm spaces that bend inward, defying the rigid angles of the wood panels. This sense of protection is reinforced via the figures themselves, as in nothatsummernight,theywashaway,theywashitallaway,away,theyalwaysgoaway, in which a couple becomes one another’s pillows in an expression of open trust. Despite their ease with one another, the pair seems to retain a personal, psychic distance that respects the private nature of their bond. Such boundaries are similarly intuited in the multilayered drawings, andweburncandles,sage,cooktheirfavoritefoods,carrycharmswithpictures,playsongs,andpresentflowers,fruits,andburnincensetothem, in which a filigree-like application of wax pencil unveils figures embedded within swaths of dense foliage. In shielding his sitters from easy viewing, Cruz honors the sanctity of chosen families, by striking a careful balance between visibility and exposure. Although most prominent in the drawings, shadows and outlines of leaves, branches, and other floral elements are present throughout the series. Whether depicted as the backdrop in images such as andwe’lllookatthecloudsfrombothsidesnow or faintly inscribed onto the skin or clothing of select figures, these organic forms serve as referents to places sacred to the sitters. In some instances, they allude to sites where one’s chosen family lives or was formed, as in the case of the three drawings that feature trees native to the cities of New York, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles. In other cases, they convey a diasporic bond, shared background, or common homeland.
Together, they metaphori-
cally allude to the concept of family trees that grow and branch in different directions. Cruz’s painterly interrogation of the concept of family expands upon a theme long present in his practice, and perhaps most overt in his 2015 canvas, Puerto Rican Pieta, now in the collection of El Museo del Barrio. As in his new series, this earlier work draws on art historical tradition in its affective representation of the maternal relationship. It thus serves as the precedent and sister-portrait wherewelieawakedreamingyouarehere, which similarly captures both the intimacy and complexity of intergenerational love. Indeed, in each image, both David and Stephanie cling to their respective “mothers,” to whom they are both rooted yet simultaneously removed, as signaled by their outward gazes and sensuous poses.
likealambsinthemeadow,i’llfollowyou, 2021 (detail)
This sense of filial love is again present in i’mawarethatyouarewatchingme,ididwhatihadtodotosaveus, which belongs to Cruz’s ongoing series of self-portraits. Created at periodic intervals, the artist emulates both the practice and gesture of Rembrandt, enrobed in opulent drapery and boldly gazing forth from the picture plane. Yet, whereas Rembrandt’s portraits reflect artistic ego and self-fashioning, Cruz’s inclusion of gilded picture frames suggests an alternate gesture of homage to those who helped raise him. Placed closest to his heart in a ghostly frame is his biological mother, who appears alongside representations of others to whom
he attributes a maternal role. Barely contained with-
in Cruz’s arms, the many frames reflect a personal sense of chosen family, while reiterating the plurality and expansiveness of queer kinship explored throughout the series.
Installation Views
Artworks
i’mawarethatyouarewatchingme,ididwhatihadtodotosaveus, 2021 Oil, wax pencil and latex on wood panel 40 x 30 in 101.6 x 76.2 cm
This self-portrait is part of the chosen family series exploring the non-biological bonds between queer people, expanding on the idea of family as structures that build hope and resilience, chosen out of mutual love and support. The intergenerational portraits speak of queer perspective and agency. Drawing from Rembrandt’s self-portrait, the artist is wrapped in a large futuristic blanket-like pancho, holding portraits of his mothers, referring to biological and nonbiological family members. The images include a portrait of his birth mother, grandmother, auntie, and multiple women who have sheltered, supported, and guided the artist, especially through the coming out experience. The mountainous pose and protective gesture is juxtaposed with the slight queered tilt of the body and striped women’s stocking. The sitter is surrounded by a warped chandelier with a light drawing in wax pencil of the Ceiba tree.
Detail
wherewelieawakedreamingyouarehere, 2021 Oil and latex on wood panel 48 x 60 in 121.9 x 152.4 cm
In this portrait of Stephanie and Carmen, the subjects are posed on a morphed couch shaped like a nest surrounded by a warped chandelier. The composition echoes the warmth and sensuality of the Puerto Rican Pieta, a painting by the artist of him and his mother, which is part of the permanent collection at El Museo del Barrio. The women in this portrait, Stephanie and Carmen, met while working at El Museo, where they formed a mother/daughter-like relationship.
Detail
nothatsummernight,theywashaway,theywashitallaway,away,theyalwaysgoaway, 2021 Oil, wax pencil and latex on wood panel 48 x 60 in 121.9 x 152.4 cm
In this portrait of Anthony and Eddie, the two men, of Armenian and Chicano backgrounds, are part of the gay “bear” community. Their tender pose echoes the warmth and care between a child and parent. Anthony, a longtime friend of the artist, rests his head and body on Eddie, an incredible source of support. The subjects are posed on a raft-life couch surrounded by a warped chandelier and covered in motifs of birds and animal prints, with a light drawing in wax pencil of the Ceiba tree. The bold color, prints, and soft and warm gestures subvert common portrayals of men of color and the bear community.
Detail
canyoustaywithmetonight_causeyouarehere,youarehere,andweareherewithyou, 2021 Oil and latex on wood panel 72 x 48 in (each panel) 182.9 x 121.9 cm 72 x 96 in (overall)
Many of the figures are posed upside down as a way to deconstruct the social norms regarding how subjects historically sit for paintings, offering them full control and ownership over the body and their representation, and encouraging a different way to be seen. This intergenerational portrait depicts a group of queer BIPOC men, many of whom are in their 50s, whom the artist affectionately refers to as the DC Boys. Tracing the limbs, arms, hands, and legs reveals a circle of protection formed through touch, guarding the othered body, the queer body, the alien body, the Black body. Referencing the physiologically charged artificial spaces created in Francis Bacon paintings, the immersion of the figures within the background creates a protective border for their authentic queer identities to be held.
Detail
andwe’lllookatthecloudsfrombothsidesnow, 2021 Oil, flashe, and pencil on wood 48 x 36 in 121.9 x 91.4 cm
Detail
likelambsinthemeadow,i’llfollowyou, 2021 Ink, acrylic, and wax pencil on Arches watercolor paper. 51 3/4 x 38 3/4 in 131.4 x 98.4 cm
Detail
suddenly,lastsummerweweren’tyounganymore, 2021 Ink, flashe, and pencil on watercolor paper 55 1/2 x 40 1/2 in 141 x 102.9 cm
Detail
andweburncandles,sage,cooktheirfavoritefoods,carrycharmswithpictures,playsongs,andpresentflowers,fruits,andburnincensetothem, 2021 Ink, acrylic, and pencil on Arches watercolor paper 75 1/2 x 51 1/2 in (each panel) 191.8 x 130.8 cm 75 1/2 x 154 1/2 in (overall) 191.8 x 392.4 cm
Left panel
Middle panel
Right panel
This triptych portrait depicts three different families across the country: Roy and his family in Los Angeles, Mariam and their family in New York City, and Sheldon and his family in Washington, DC. The multi-medium drawings are layered with motifs from the countryside of Puerto Rico based on the artist’s memories, silhouettes of vegetation from the three different locations, and a haunting top layer of the chosen family and Ceiba trees in wax pencil across the paper’s surface. Roy, a civil servant in LA, is surrounded by four chosen family members layered over motifs of the Jacaranda and Mexican palm trees. Mariam, a Brooklyn-based writer, is surrounded by two chosen family members layered over motifs of North Red Oaks. Sheldon, a performance artist and longtime friend of the artist, is surrounded by five of his chosen family members, layered over motifs of cherry blossom trees. Detail of right panel
Biographies
David Antonio Cruz (b. 1974, Philadelphia) received his BFA in Painting from Pratt Institute and his MFA from Yale University. He also attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and completed the AIM Program at the Bronx Museum, New York. Recent residencies and fellowships include the LMCC Workspace Residency, New York (2015); Gateway Project Spaces, Newark, NJ (2016); BRIC Workspace Residency, Brooklyn (2018); Neubauer Faculty Fellowship, Tufts University, Boston (2018); and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Award (2018). Cruz’s work has been included in notable exhibitions at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C (2014); El Museo del Barrio, New York (2016); the Ford Foundation, New York (2019); the Brooklyn Museum (2019); and the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio (2019). Cruz’s work was recently included in The Outwin American Portraiture Today exhibition at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery (2020); The Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts (2020/2021); and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum (2021/2022). Cruz presented performances at Performa 13, New York (2013); and the High Line, New York (2015). Upcoming group exhibitions include A Site for Struggle, The Block Museum at Northwestern (2022) and A Place For Me: Figurative Painting Now, ICA Boston (2022). Cruz lives and works in Boston where he is a Professor of the Practice in Painting and Drawing at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University.
Susanna Temkin is a Curator at El Museo del Barrio, where she most recently organized the museum’s fiftieth anniversary exhibition, Culture and the People: El Museo del Barrio, 19692019, drawing from objects from the Permanent Collection. Prior to this, she served as Assistant Curator at Americas Society in New York, as well as the research and archive specialist at the Cecilia de Torres, Ltd., where she assisted in co-authoring the digital catalogue raisonné of artist Joaquín Torres-García. Temkin earned her master’s and PhD degrees from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where her research concentrated on modern art in the Americas with a focus on Cuba. She has published essays and reviews in the Rutgers Art Review, Burlington Magazine, and Hemispheres, and authored the chronology of Concrete Cuba: Cuba Geometric Abstraction from the 1950s, produced by David Zwirner Books.
Monique Meloche Gallery is located at 451 N Paulina Street, Chicago, IL 60622 For additional info, visit moniquemeloche.com or email info@moniquemeloche.com