The Art Gallery Presents "thosebutterflyboysandvioletunicorns" Beginning March 8
(Delaware and Chester Counties, PA • February 22, 2017)—Delaware County Community College presents an exhibition of the work of David Antonio Cruz titled thosebutterflyboysandvioletunicorns beginning March 8 at the Art Gallery on the Marple Campus (901 South Media Line Road, Media, PA). On March 22, Cruz will be on campus to deliver a talk beginning at 4 p.m. in the Large Auditorium, followed by a reception from 5-7 p.m. in the Art Gallery.
Cruz is a New York-based multidisciplinary artist. He fuses painting, video and performance to explore the invisibility and silencing of brown and black queer bodies throughout history and within our communities. In thosebutterflyboysandvioletunicorns, vivid portraits, some in mixed media, defy expectations of the portraiture genre. Olivia Gruber Florek, Assistant Professor of Art History, writes that the exhibition is a “celebration of queer Latino identity” and “an ideal lens through which to examine the major themes of Rigoberto González’s 2006 memoir Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa, the College-Wide Reading Program selection for the 2016-17 academic year.” Students will be able to examine connections between Cruz’s work and González’s memoir, and through this interdisciplinary approach, come away with a richer understanding of each work and how they relate to one another.
Cruz received his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from Yale University and his BFA in painting from Pratt Institute. He attended Skowhegan School for Painting and Sculpture, the Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) program at the Bronx Museum, and most recently completed a yearlong residency at Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) Workspace Residency Program. His work has been shown at El Museo del Barrio, Performa 13, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and various galleries and institutions. Cruz has been awarded several fellowships, including the Franklin Furnace Fund Award. His body of work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, WhiteHot Magazine, W Magazine, Journal USA, Studio Magazine, Arc Magazine, Bomb Magazine, and El Centro Journal. Cruz is currently a resident artist at the Gateway Project Spaces.
The thosebutterflyboysandvioletunicorns exhibition is sponsored by the Communications, Arts & Humanities Division and will remain on view through April 14. Admission and parking are free. For more information, visit www.dccc.edu/art-gallery or contact Caitlin Flaherty, Assistant to the Dean for Arts Programming, at 610-359-5266.
