Jose Tence Ruiz

Born 1958 in Manila, Philippines
Lives and works in Philippines

Jose Tence Ruiz is a multimedia artist and an alumnus of prestigious Ateneo de Manila and University of Santo Tomas, Manila. For over 30 years, Ruiz has been involved in various multimedia and visual practices such as paintings, sculpture, installation, performance as well as media presentations, book illustration, publication design or set design. The artist is also well known for his political cartoons which he submitted for the editorial pages of major newspapers across the Philippines and Singapore (The Manila Times, The Manila Chronicle, and Singapore Straits Times, among others).
In its formal aspects, Ruiz’s practice draws from different sources: Social Realism, botanical and industrial debris from both rural and urban environments of the Philippines as well as the Chaos Theory and the aesthetics of fractals - symmetrical geometric compositions, described by the study of mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot. Strangely poetic in its form, Ruiz’s work is strongly embedded in the political and social landscape of the Philippines.

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Jose Tence Ruiz graduated with a Fine Arts degree from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila in 1979.
Solo exhibitions: “Jose Tence Ruiz – Kotillion”, Artinformal, Mandaluyong City (2008), “Jose Tence Ruiz – Desiccated Proxy”, Galleria Duemila, Pasay City (2012), “Jose Tence Ruiz - Sagala de Ligalig”, Artinformal, Mandaluyong City (2012).
Group exhibitions: “Apt2 - Asia-pacific Triennial Of Contemporary Art”, Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, QLD (1996), “TuTOK KARGADO”, Ateneo Art Gallery, Quezon City (2008), “aba”, Finale Art File, Mandaluyong City (2008), “Luwalhati”, Artinformal, Mandaluyong City (2008), “Anyo”, Artinformal, Mandaluyong City (2008), “Anyo Dos”, Artinformal, Mandaluyong City (2009), “Youtubia”, Finale Art File, Makati City (2010), “Bound”, Jorge B. Vargas Museum, Quezon City (2010).
Ruiz received several awards such as the “13 Artists Award” given by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in 1988 and “¬ve awards” from the Art Association of the Philippines, from 1979 – 2005.

Jose Tence Ruiz, Excruciate Ecstasy, 2014, Mixed media sculpture, 152,4 x 152,4 x 121,92 cm | 60 x 60 x 48 in, # RUIZ0001 Jose Tence Ruiz, Excruciate Ecstasy, 2014, Mixed media sculpture, 152,4 x 152,4 x 121,92 cm | 60 x 60 x 48 in, # RUIZ0001

Exhibitions

Manila: The Night is Restless, The Day is Scornful

Group exhibition of contemporary Filipino artists at ARNDT Singapore
Curated by Norman Crisologo
July 12 - August 30, 2014
Opening reception | Friday | July 11, 2014 | 6-9 pm

Please click here to view the list of artworks

"Manila: The Night is Restless, The Day is Scornful" features works by Mike Adrao, Gabriel Barredo, Santiago Bose, Zean Cabangis, Jigger Cruz, Alfredo Esquillo, Dex Fernandez, Kawayan de Guia, José Legaspi, Pow Martinez, Alwin Reamillo, Kaloy Sanchez, Norberto Roldan, Jose Tence Ruiz and Tatong Torres.
                  
Manila is a city of extremes, and at a time that only the extreme makes an impression, it still manages to shock. To wander into its streets, to be among the crowds, to be caught in the din of history that barrages you at every corner is to participate in a drama that began centuries ago, but whose cries and whispers echo resound well into the present. The sacred and the profane, the amatory smiles and the feral gaze are all on display here, as the unforgiving sun of its days give way to the artificial neon of night.
This exhibition is a guided tour of Manila, by asking its best contemporary artists to act as Virgils ushering us into its depths as well as pointing out the stars of the darkened heavens above this infernal city.
Erwin Romulo, 2014

Manila: The Night is Restless, The Day is Scornful, 2014 Manila: The Night is Restless, The Day is Scornful, 2014

The catalogue was published on the occasion of the curated exhibition of Norman Crisologo at ARNDT Singapore in 2014.

This publicationis a guided tour of Manila, by asking its best contemporary artists to act as Virgils ushering us into its depths as well as pointing out the stars of the darkened heavens above this infernal city and features works by Mike Adrao, Gabriel Barredo, Santiago Bose, Zean Cabangis, Jigger Cruz, Alfredo Esquillo, Dex Fernandez, Kawayan de Guia, José Legaspi, Pow Martinez, Alwin Reamillo, Kaloy Sanchez, Norberto Roldan, Jose Tence Ruiz and Tatong Torres.

The publication "Manila: The Night is Restless, The Day is Scornful" features the essays of Erwin Romulo, Oliver X.A. Rexles


Self-Published by ARNDT / 70pages, many colour plates
unbound soft cover
Language English

Installation view I  Installation view I
Installation view II Installation view II
Installation view III Installation view III
Installation view IV Installation view IV