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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