Accompanied by a certificate signed by the artist
confirming the authenticity of this lot

Exhibited:
Albertz Benda, Jigger Cruz: Picture Towards the Other Side,
New York, March 15 - April 21, 2018

ABOUT THE WORK

Jigger Cruz’s claim to faim was his signature use of materials to create tactile and sensorial masterpieces. He does so via an act of overpainting in which uses a variety of techniques such as impasto, cutting, burning, and spray painting in order to achieve his desired effect. Though chaotic at first, a closer and more nuanced look reveals a cohesive whole that has been transformed through methods of destruction and defacement; giving the piece a whole new meaning. In other words, Cruz’s works seemingly breathe in new life by shedding its former self. Though this seemingly juxtaposed treatment can be considered novel, what Cruz is dealing with here are timeless and age-old themes. In one of the earliest and most important texts of art theory, the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy writes in his seminal book What is Art “To evoke in oneself a feeling one has experienced and having evoked it in oneself then by means of movements, lines, colours, sounds, or forms expressed in words, so to transmit this feeling that others experience the same feeling -- this is the activity of art.” In the same vein, Cruz’s synthesis of creation and destruction can be seen as a metaphor for self expression. Despite Cruz’s basis within modern artistic theory, his works do not only contain inherently modern ideals. Though Cruz’s works are best seen as an expression of pure emotion and ideas, the content of these visual messages are undoubtedly contemporary. We can see this first through the materials used. Though Cruz also works with traditional media such as oil and acrylic paints, Cruz also layers his pieces with enamel, spray paint, and other unorthodox materials. Thus, Cruz effectively confronts and subverts our traditional notion of what art can be by using materials not inherent to the art world, but to other forms of production. Second, Cruz also creates art as a form of history-making. By adopting canonically western styles and techniques as his base, Cruz performs a ritualistic act of subversion through his unorthodox and destructive treatment. By doing so, Cruz confronts the hegemonic blanket that has enveloped most of the art world by uncovering new and even lost forms of expression. (J.D.)