David Antonio Cruz
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  • icutfromthemiddletogetabetterslice When the Children Come Home returnofthedirtyboys/girls onedayi'llturnthecorner wegivesomuchandgivenothingatall jibaro paintings
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  • The OPERA green,howiwantyougreen Other (performances)
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David Antonio Cruz

  • HOME/
  • BIO/
  • PAINTINGS/
    • icutfromthemiddletogetabetterslice
    • When the Children Come Home
    • returnofthedirtyboys/girls
    • onedayi'llturnthecorner
    • wegivesomuchandgivenothingatall
    • jibaro paintings
  • CV/
  • EVENTS/
  • PERFORMANCES/
    • The OPERA
    • green,howiwantyougreen
    • Other (performances)
  • Contact/
2. Cruz Apnea performance 2009.jpg

David Antonio Cruz

Other (performances)

David Antonio Cruz

  • HOME/
  • BIO/
  • PAINTINGS/
    • icutfromthemiddletogetabetterslice
    • When the Children Come Home
    • returnofthedirtyboys/girls
    • onedayi'llturnthecorner
    • wegivesomuchandgivenothingatall
    • jibaro paintings
  • CV/
  • EVENTS/
  • PERFORMANCES/
    • The OPERA
    • green,howiwantyougreen
    • Other (performances)
  • Contact/

Apnea, 2009. Collaboration with Daphne Arthur. 25 minutes.

Holdon,causepeterpiperwentupahill, 2012. Collaboration with the students of Gladstone Atwell Middle School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. 30 minutes.

The Piano Piece, 2014. Commissioned by the Bronx Council on the Arts. Longwood Gallery. 20 minutes.

The Piano Piece, 2008. Norfolk School for the Arts. 15 minutes.

 

THE PERFORMANCES

The opera-like performances are a loud psychological manifestation of the portraits frozen in the paintings. The performers are often the model sources for the paintings. Like the paintings, the performances explore the physical, emotional, and metaphorical disjunction between the body, society, and structures.

The operatic performances borrow from queer texts, plays, and films to construct visible queer narratives and to expose forgotten histories. The performances fuse multiple texts together with references from popular culture and personal narratives of coming out. The multilingual performances clash high art against queer slang, playing with language, music and double entendres particular to Latino and Black underground gay culture. 

  • HOME/
  • BIO/
  • PAINTINGS/
    • icutfromthemiddletogetabetterslice
    • When the Children Come Home
    • returnofthedirtyboys/girls
    • onedayi'llturnthecorner
    • wegivesomuchandgivenothingatall
    • jibaro paintings
  • CV/
  • EVENTS/
  • PERFORMANCES/
    • The OPERA
    • green,howiwantyougreen
    • Other (performances)
  • Contact/

David Antonio Cruz