After Cana or The World Creation, 2018
Jorge Da Cruz’s After Cana may be read as a silent act of sabotage directed at Paolo Veronese’s The Wedding at Cana. Veronese’s scene stages Renaissance abundance—architecture, luxury, silk, and the miracle that turns water into wine. Da Cruz retains the banquet and the crowd, but empties them of jubilation. Here the miracle is reversed: water rises across the tessellated floor toward the guests, who continue to raise their glasses, determined to remain inside the illusion of the feast. Celebration and foreboding now share the same table.
Bethanien, or Berlin’s Cultural Machine
If the city of Berlin breathes art and culture, then Bethanien is undoubtedly part of its respiratory system. These “lungs of the city,” where living off art is still possible, resemble a miniature Berlin: steeped in history, shaped by many nationalities, and filled with art and culture across disciplines, even down to its graffiti-covered walls. Within this cultural machine, the artist Jorge da Cruz found his own place, developing his work in a setting where histories, languages, and artistic energies continuously intersect and resonate.
Exibition text ”utopia x matter” Kassel
Jorge da Cruz reiste im Jahr 2006 nach Auroville in Tamil Nadu, Südindien. Dort lebte und arbeitete er drei Monate lang und recherchierte zu Materialien, die direkt vor Ort für Dekoration oder religiösen Kult verwendet werden. Dabei stieß er auf eine große Vielfalt: von Stempeln über Gesichtsmalfarbe bis hin zu Tempelfarben sammelte er alles, was ihm begegnete. Dieser Aufenthalt wurde zu einer intensiven materiellen Recherche und prägte seinen Blick auf lokale Bildsprachen, Rituale, Oberflächen und Formen des Alltags nachhaltig bis heute.
