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Angela De La Cruz (1965 – )
COAT 1997 Angela De La Cruz (1965 – )	P6971 © Courtesy of Angela de la Cruz and Lisson Gallery
PULLING UP (READY TO WEAR) 1997 Angela De La Cruz (1965 – )	P6972 © Courtesy of Angela de la Cruz and Lisson Gallery
Angela De La Cruz was born in 1965 in La Coruña, Spain. She studied philosophy at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain before moving to London to attend Chelsea College of Art, Goldsmiths College and the Slade School of Art, where she studied sculpture and critical theory.
De La Cruz's painting Coat (1997) belongs to a series called Everyday Paintings [1995 – 1999] and shows a technique she has developed since her days as a student at the Slade, and continues to experiment with today. She begins with a glossy monochrome layer of paint, either acrylic or oil, which is made up of large horizontal brush strokes. The canvas is then subjected to manipulative and destructive techniques that render the traditional form of the painting unrecognisable. Her approach to painting spills over into sculpture and De La Cruz often incorporates found objects and furniture into her work. She said "One day, I took the crossbar out and the painting bent. From that moment on, I looked at the painting as an object."
In 2005 De La Cruz was midway through organising a European tour of her work when she suffered a brain haemorrhage. She was in a coma for several months, during which time she gave birth to her daughter. De La Cruz is still recovering, but with the help of assistants began to work again last year. The 2010 exhibition After, held at the Camden Arts Centre, was De La Cruz's first UK solo show in a public gallery, and it was for this show that she received a nomination for the 2010 Turner Prize.
Other major solo exhibitions include Trabalho Work Culturgest, Porto, Portugal in 2006, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne and Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla, Spain in 2005; Lisson Gallery, London and Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Vigo, MARCO, Spain in 2004; Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London in 2001 and John Weber Gallery, New York in 2000. In 2002 she was the artist in residence at Church Gallery in Perth, Australia and then two years later at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin.
Made in Britain Contemporary Art from the British Council Collection 1980-2010,China federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Corporation 2010. ISBN 978-7-5059-7014-4.
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Modern synthetic paint that combines some of the properties of oils and watercolour. Most are water-based, although some are oil compatible, using turpentine as a thinner. When it became available to artists in America around 1936 it was the first new painting medium in centuries and has become a serious rival to oil paint because of its versatility. Acrylic paints can be used on nearly any surface. The water-based nature of acrylic paint allows for easy application and rapid drying time: acrylic paint dries in a matter of minutes, as opposed to the many months required for oil-based paints. Once the paint has been applied to a surface, the water evaporates, leaving behind the synthetic resin (and pigment), which is no longer water-soluble. Visually, acrylic-based paints can appear to be very similar to oil-based paints, but they cannot rival the rich, translucent nature of oils.
A piece of cloth woven from flax, hemp or cotton fibres. The word has generally come to refer to any piece of firm, loosely woven fabric used to paint on. Its surface is typically prepared for painting by priming with a ground.
Existing or coming into being at the same period; of today or of the present. The term that designates art being made today.
A medium in which ground pigments are mixed to produce a paste or liquid that can be applied to a surface by a brush or other tool; the most common oil used by artists is linseed, this can be thinned with turpentine spirit to produce a thinner and more fluid paint. The oil dries with a hard film, and the brightness of the colour is protected. Oil paints are usually opaque and traditionally used on canvas.
Work of art made with paint on a surface. Often the surface, also called a support, is a tightly stretched piece of canvas, paper or a wooden panel. Painting involves a wide range of techniques and materials, along with the artist's intellectual concerns effecting the content of a work.
A three-dimensional work of art. Such works may be carved, modelled, constructed, or cast. Sculptures can also be described as assemblage, in the round, relief, and made in a huge variety of media. Contemporary practice also includes live elements, as in Gilbert & George 'Living Sculpture' as well as broadcast work, radio or sound sculpture.
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