安杰拉.德拉克鲁兹1965年出生于西班牙拉科鲁那,于西班牙圣地亚哥甘普斯提拉大学攻读哲学,其后前往伦敦,在切尔西艺术学院、金匠学院和史拉特艺术学院攻读雕塑和批判理论。
德拉克鲁兹的画作《涂层》(1997) 是《每日画作》系列(1995-9) 其中一幅作品。作品表现她自史拉特艺术学院读书时期已经掌握、至今依然不断尝试的一种技巧。首先以横向的大笔触于画布上涂上一层光滑的单色颜料,可以是塑料彩或油彩;然后再以各种手法将画面解构和修改,使之变得面目全非,而且有别于传统绘画。德拉克鲁兹将这种绘画手法运用到雕塑上,同时亦将其他随手拾来的对象和家具加入作品中。她说:「一天,我将画架的横杆除下来后,画布就折弯了。自此我就将画视为一种对象看待。」
2005年,正当德拉克鲁兹筹备欧洲巡回展之际,突然脑溢血,陷入昏迷达数个月之久,期间更诞下女儿。德拉克鲁兹现时正在康复中,凭着助手的协助,去年她已经重新开始创作。2010年在甘顿艺术中心举办的「之后」展览,为德拉克鲁兹在伦敦公共画廊所作的首次个展,而凭借这个展览,她获得2010年「特纳奖」提名。
其他主要的个展包括︰「工作」 (波尔图文化中心,葡萄牙,2006);安娜.舒沃兹画廊(墨尔本,2005),以及CAAC (塞维亚,西班牙,2005);利森画廊(伦敦,2004),及维哥当代艺术博物馆(MARCO)(西班牙,2004);安东尼.维京逊画廊(伦敦,2001);约翰.韦伯画廊(纽约,2000)。2002年任澳洲柏斯教堂画廊驻馆艺术家,2004年任都柏林爱尔兰现代艺术馆驻馆艺术家。
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 (1995-9) 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 Contemporáneo 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.