Jigger Cruz

The works of the Philippine artist Jigger Cruz (b. Malabon City, 1984; lives and works in Manila, Philippines) scrutinize the role of figuration in contemporary art. Cruz started his career in the underground. He was hot, and then he was not; commercial success proved elusive. It was only after he went into training with Manuel Ocampo at the Department of Avant-Garde Clichés that he gained a foothold in the arts scene. Whether he makes wall paintings or objects, sculptures or installations, his work always grows out of the idea of change and disfiguration--his practice not infrequently verges on vandalism. His wall pieces are painted on found materials: framed wood panels Jigger Cruz covers with historicizing motifs in an Old Master style and then destroys in acts of "wild anarchy," covering them with mounds of pigment, spray lacquer, or multiple layers of paint straight from the tube. With essays by Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay and Lisa Ito.