David Antonio Cruz
David Antonio Cruz is an interdisciplinary artist working in painting, drawing, and performance. His work explores the intersectionality of queerness and race, centering Black, Brown, and queer bodies to explore personal and collective history and culture. Incorporating literature, language, and sculptural elements, his work engages portraiture as a place of permanence and as a form of resistance to normative conventions. Cruz received his BFA in Painting from Pratt Institute and his MFA from Yale University. He also attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and completed the AIM Program at the Bronx Museum. Recent residencies and fellowships include the LMCC Workspace Residency, Project for Empty Space Artist in Residence Program, BRIC Workspace Residency, the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Award, Franklin Furnace, and the Mass Cultural Council's Artist Fellowship. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally, including at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, ICA Boston, The Block Museum of Art, McNay Art Museum, and El Museo del Barrio.
Selected Works
David Antonio Cruz, canyoustaywithmetonight_
causeyouarehere,youarehere,andweareherewithyou, (oil and acrylic on wood. 72 x 96 in, 2021)
David Antonio Cruz, nothatsummernight,theywashaway,
theywashitallaway,away,theyalwaysgoaway, (oil and acrylic on wood. 48 x 60 in, 2021)
David Antonio Cruz, wherewelieawakedreamingyouarehere,
amongtheruinsofadowncastheart, (oil and acrylic on wood. 48 x 60 in, 2021)
David Antonio Cruz, When the Children Come Home, ICA Philadelphia 2024. (installation)
David Antonio Cruz, isaidallbefore,feelingpretty,pretty,pretty. (60" x 48," Oil and latex on wood, 2024)
David Antonio Cruz, stay, take your time, my love. ICA San Francisco. 2025. (installation)
David Antonio Cruz, iknowyouvebeenwonderingwhereivebeenadrift,adraft,astare,atilt,asigh,exhale. (72" x 96," Oil and latex on wood, 2024)
News
Columbia students, alumni, and faculty are making their presence known at this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach, one of the world’s premiere art fairs. Upwards of twenty Columbia affiliates will have their work presented in connection with the fair’s wide array of platforms.
School of the Arts Professor David Antonio Cruz has recently been teaching and exhibiting his work in multiple museum exhibitions.
This fall, the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania will present When the Children Come Home, the first major solo exhibition from Assistant Professor of Visual Art David Antonio Cruz in his hometown.