As a tribute to one of Goa's most distinguished artists Antonio Piedade da Cruz, Sunaparanta: Goa Centre for the Arts will be organising the art exhibition The Quest for Cruzo : The exhibition which has been curated by cultural theorist and poet Ranjit Hoskote will open at the centre on June 30, 6.30 pm and continue till July 20 . The exhibition will be inaugurated by the eminent writer and scholar, Padma Shri (Dr) Maria Aurora Couto.
Antonio Piedade da Cruz (1895-1982), also known as Cruzo, was born in Velim, Goa, and educated at the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy School of Art, Bombay, and the Akademie der Künste, now the Universität der Künste, Berlin. Returning to India, he set up a studio practice in Bombay as a painter and sculptor.
Da Cruz evolved a compelling expressionist idiom to articulate his sense of an artistic calling linked to the fate of his fellow Indians, and his revolutionary commitment to their freedom and redemption from poverty. The focal figures in his art were Christ, Gandhi, and by allusion, the Buddha.
As a step towards restoring his art and also showcasing the work of Goan artists at home and in the diaspora beyond the boundaries of the state, Sunaparanta is organising this art exhibition which will present 16 of his works along with 21 archival photographs and sketches from various phases of his career, which have never before been publicly viewed.
A substantial and handsomely illustrated publication, which situates the artist in his multiple historical contexts, accompanies the exhibition.
