Prof Juan Cruz
Job title:
Professor of Fine Art
Role:
ECA Principal
Office:
Main Building
Research Output:
Edinburgh Research Explorer linkBiography
Juan Cruz is an artist and Principal of Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh, where he is also a professor of Fine Art. He has 26 years of academic experience starting his career in 2000 at Goldsmiths College and having since worked at Liverpool John Moores University and the Royal College of Art.
He studied Painting at Chelsea College of Art, graduating in 1993. Following his studies Juan worked as an independent artist and writer, gallery assistant and bookseller until 2000 when he took his first permanent academic role at Goldsmiths.
Juan’s own work has had broad dissemination, being exhibited at Matt’s Gallery; Camden Arts Centre; Witte de With, Rotterdam; Serralves Foundation, Porto; Galería Elba Benítez, Madrid; the Edinburgh International Festival; the Melbourne Festival and MUSAC, Spain. In 1999 Juan was awarded a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists and in 2000 named Artist Fellow at Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge. Between 1995 and 1998 he was a regular contributor to the London-based magazine Art Monthly, and has continued to write on the work of other artists throughout his career.
Juan was a sub-panel member for UoA32 in REF 2014, deputy chair of UoA32 in REF 2021, and is also deputy chair of UoA32 in REF 2029 and a Panel member for the Hong Kong RAE 2026. He was a Panel member of PBRF Creative and Performing Arts Panel (New Zealand Research Assessment Exercise).
Juan is a a trustee of the National Galleries of Scotland, board member of the IAAC (International Awards for Art Criticism), and trustee of the John Moores Painting Prize.
Research interests
- Art Practice
- Art Criticism
Juan has taught and held leadership roles at several institutions. His first permanent position was at Goldsmiths between 2000 and 2008, where he started as a part time Tutor progressing to be a full time Senior Tutor on the BA Fine Art programme and also acting as the Departmental Access and Recruitment Tutor. Between 2008 and 2014 he worked at Liverpool School of Art and Design, Liverpool John Moores University, first as Head of Department for Art and then as Director of School.
While at Liverpool, Juan developed innovative and sustainable patterns of cooperation between the University and cultural organisations in the city, co-founding joint research centres, including the Exhibition Research Centre, and establishing tenured posts that operated across the organisations. These posts continue to operate, enriching the collaboration across academia and industry and providing a really distinctive and rich set of opportunities for the city. Some of this work was funded by the University while other aspects were funded by the Arts Council, from whom Cruz raised funds to develop projects relating to the employability of graduates in the city.
In 2014 Juan joined the Royal College of Art as a Professor and Dean of Fine Art. He led the amalgamation of the School of Fine Art with the School of Humanities and became Dean of Arts & Humanities in 2017, and oversaw significant growth in the PGT and PGR communities. During his time at the RCA Juan held the role of Show Director and developed a broad range of public programming initiatives, including exhibitions and public events. He was also involved in the selection of architects, planning and fund raising efforts for the Battersea South development of a new Herzog & deMeuron building, scheduled to open in 2021.
Research
Research
Juan is a specialist in research-based art practice and is Deputy Chair of REF2029 Sub Panel 34: Art & Design History, Theory and Practice, having also been Deputy Chair in 2021 and a panel member in 2014. He was also a member of PBRF Creative and Performing Arts Panel 2018 (New Zealand Research Assessment Exercise) and of the Hong Kong RAE in 2026.
Juan’s own research is largely practice based and has been exhibited internationally. In 2017 he held a major museum exhibition of his work at MUSAC, Spain, titled Catalogue: it will seem a dream, which was accompanied by a 316 page book collecting numerous writings and published by Occasional Papers. More recently, in 2018, he exhibited an ongoing series of videos titled ‘I don’t know what I’m doing but I’m trying very hard’ at Matt’s Gallery, London.
In 2019 Juan was awarded an AHRC UK/China Creative Industries award for a project titled ‘Art Fair Innovations’ to develop better links and the enhanced used of digital media between the commercial art worlds in China and the UK.
Current PhD students
Ethan Zhao
Censorship’s Grip: Navigating the Visible and Invisible Webs of Power in Political Art
PhD Supervision Topics
- Contemporary Art Practice
