Bembol Dela Cruz
Bembol Dela Cruz (b. 1976) has been publicly exhibiting his photorealistic paintings since 2000, increasingly engaging the concept of tattoos and other objects as surface, skin and sign.
His first solo exhibition, The History of Things, was shown in 2006 and has been followed by successive one-man shows ever since. In 2011, Dela Cruz bagged one of the top three slots at the 8th Ateneo Art Awards and received an artist residency and exhibition grant at the Liverpool Hope University and the Cornerstone Gallery in the United Kingdom. The following year, he received two other residency grants from the Berkshire Residency Exchange in West Massachusetts and the Art OMI International Artists Residency in Ghent, New York. Dela Cruz holds a degree in Fine Arts (major in Painting) from the University of the Philippines.
Recent Shows
Jan 9 to Feb 1, 2020 • FLOM • Video Room, Finale Art File, La Fuerza Plaza, Makati City, Philippines
Mar 14 to Apr 8, 2019 • Labeled • Upstairs Gallery, Finale Art File, La Fuerza Plaza, Makati City, Philippines
Jun 2 to Jun 26, 2017 • Misuse • Upstairs Gallery, Finale Art File, La Fuerza Plaza, Makati City, Philippines
Sep 9 to Sep 28, 2016 • Continuity • Tall Gallery, Finale Art File, La Fuerza Plaza, Makati City, Philippines
Aug 7 to Aug 29, 2015 • Pull Recovery • Tall Gallery, Finale Art File, La Fuerza Plaza, Makati City, Philippines
Feb 5 to Feb 8, 2015 • Art Fair Philippines 2015 • The Link Carpark, Ayala Center, Makati City, Philippines
Sep 4 to Sep 29, 2014 • Handmade Violence (Manila) • Upstairs Gallery, Finale Art File, La Fuerza Plaza, Makati City, Philippines
May 8 to Jun 3, 2013 • Closed Door Meeting • Upstairs Gallery, Finale Art File, La Fuerza Plaza, Makati City, Philippines
May 8 to Jun 3, 2013 • I Love Painting and Painting Loves Me • Tall Gallery, Finale Art File, La Fuerza Plaza, Makati City, Philippines
Feb 7 to Feb 10, 2013 • Unearth • The Link Carpark, Ayala Center, Makati City, Philippines
Sep 6 to Sep 29, 2012 • Ghost Chasing Ghost v.1 • Tall Gallery, Finale Art File, La Fuerza Plaza, Makati City, Philippines
Feb 9 to Mar 4, 2012 • Imagining Identity: 100 Filipino Self-Portraits • Finale Art File, La Fuerza Plaza, Makati City, Philippines
Oct 6 to Oct 27, 2011 • Corpus Delicti • Upstairs Gallery, Finale Art File, La Fuerza Plaza, Makati City, Philippines
Selected Works
This is not a Hatchet, Bembol Dela Cruz, 2017, 48×36 in, exhibited in Misuse
FLOM: life is beautiful (edition of 30), Bembol Dela Cruz, 2016, 54×18×18 in, exhibited in Continuity
Weapons of Choice I (diptych), Bembol Dela Cruz, 2016, 60×60 in, exhibited in 33rd Anniversary Show
Calibre (Series IX-XVI), Bembol Dela Cruz, 2014, 18×18 in, exhibited in Handmade Violence (Manila)
Little Boy of Nagasaki (Prevent this Tragedy), Bembol Dela Cruz, 2013, 96×24 in, exhibited in I Love Painting and Painting Loves Me
This is Not a Gun, This is Not a Door, Bembol Dela Cruz, 2013, 76×51 in, exhibited in Closed Door Meeting
Marks After Birth II, Bembol Dela Cruz, 2008, 60×48 in, exhibited in Imagining Identity: 100 Filipino Self-Portraits
Lower Abdomen I.D., Bembol Dela Cruz, 2011, 9×11 in, exhibited in Corpus Delicti