Gary Cruz

About

American, b. 1961   —   Texan-born, New York-based artist Gary Cruz explores the potential for almost painterly abstraction in iPhone shot and digitally manipulated works. These photographs are made, not taken, and expand the idea of what a photograph can be . They embody the duality of contemporary photographic techniques with the tradition of painting and drawing. Beginning with a photograph taken on his morning walk to the studio, the image is literally digitally manipulated on an Iphone and Ipad screen using an array of apps, with the final editing in photoshop at the studio. This latest series "Reach out and Touch" is about this time during Covid when we are all trying to isolate in pods and bubbles. The images are made up of interconnected pods or spaces, one flowing into the next, inferring that even though we are all trying to isolate, we are inextricably connected. The artist is a recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Grant and Robert Rauschenberg Change Inc. Grant. His first solo show was at White Columns, New York City in 2003. He has participated in group shows at The Drawing Center, Bronx Museum for the Arts, Islip Art Museum, Art in General, and elsewhere.