Mideo Cruz
Mideo M. Cruz (Philippines, b. 1973) is a cross-disciplinary artist and activist based in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. His artworks often showcase bold and provocative statements on the social structure. Specifically, Cruz takes his activism from the streets to his art by creating political yet humorous work, igniting individual and collective social conversations. As an activist, Cruz devotes his time in searching the truth beneath the sanitized and censored declarations from existing institutions. In 1992, Cruz and a group of artists/activists established a cultural group, “UGATLahi”, an art collective that aims to promote and popularize the role of culture and arts in nation-building. Later, he organized the international artists’ network “New World Disorder,” initiating art events and interventions to question and challenge capitalism and imperialist globalization. He is a recipient of the Cultural Center of the Philippines 13 Artists Award in 2003 and the Ateneo Art Awards in 2006. In 2008, Cruz received an Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Fellowship to participate in residencies at the Headlands Art Center in California and PointB Worklodge in New York. In 2011, his installation “Poleteismo” became one of the most controversial pieces in the Philippines art scene, stirring national debate on aesthetics, religion, …
Mideo M. Cruz (Philippines, b. 1973) is a cross-disciplinary artist and activist based in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. His artworks often showcase bold and provocative statements on the social structure. Specifically, Cruz takes his activism from the streets to his art by creating political yet humorous work, igniting individual and collective social conversations. As an activist, Cruz devotes his time in searching the truth beneath the sanitized and censored declarations from existing institutions. In 1992, Cruz and a group of artists/activists established a cultural group, “UGATLahi”, an art collective that aims to promote and popularize the role of culture and arts in nation-building. Later, he organized the international artists’ network “New World Disorder,” initiating art events and interventions to question and challenge capitalism and imperialist globalization. He is a recipient of the Cultural Center of the Philippines 13 Artists Award in 2003 and the Ateneo Art Awards in 2006. In 2008, Cruz received an Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Fellowship to participate in residencies at the Headlands Art Center in California and PointB Worklodge in New York. In 2011, his installation “Poleteismo” became one of the most controversial pieces in the Philippines art scene, stirring national debate on aesthetics, religion, and politics. Currently, he is living off-grid, away from the local commercial mainstream art industry and busy with various community creative projects connected to the Bangan Project Space in his hometown 100km north of Manila.
Courtesy of the Asian Cultural Council
