Perception and perspective in the art of Mideo Cruz
By: Constantino C. Tejero
Philippine Daily Inquirer
4:47 am Monday, August 15th, 2011
Perception is all. Perspective is all.
With this in mind, one can turn the bishops on their heads by drawing a few biblical allusions for their bête noire of the moment, artist Mideo M. Cruz: a voice crying in the wilderness; a prophet ostracized in his own land—or just another charlatan.
This arose from the overheated debate over Cruz’s art installation “Politeismo,” part of the University of Santo Tomas alumni-artists’ exhibition “Kulô” at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Bulwagang Juan Luna (Main Gallery).
Cruz is a Thirteen Artists awardee, conferred by the CCP in 2003. He is one of our more uncompromising artists, with the likes of Alwin Reamillo, Wire Tuazon, Henri Cainglet, Romeo Lee, José Tence Ruiz, Louie Cordero, José Legaspi.
He appears committed to his art and doesn’t seem to care whether his artwork is financially lucrative, well-liked by collectors, or puts his life and limb at risk. Typical of his confrontational art is “Politeismo,” an installation of collage and assemblage of found objects.
What ups the ante is the artist’s reconstitution of the venerated icons of the Cristo Rey, the Sagrada Familia, the Virgin Mary, the rosary and the cross, incorporating or juxtaposing them with condoms, wooden penises, McDonald’s mascot, Mickey Mouse, Coca-Cola, in a stream of free association that plays like a visual equivalent of “Finnegans Wake.”
Read full article here.
