Víctor Cruz & Hugo Portillo

Víctor Cruz & Hugo Portillo was born in El Salvador. He works between Austria and El Salvador.
After studying International Relations, he graduated from the Friedl Kubelka School of Artistic Photography in Vienna.
His award-winning works have already been exhibited internationally and are in several public collections.

Víctor Cruz & Hugo Portillo is his artist’s name. In a play on words, he splits his real name into two so as to incorporate a part of his childhood and youth that was shaped by the upbringing and influence of his late grandfather Víctor Cruz into his artistic practice.

The artist is interested in showing a social reality within our stereotypical image of tropical countries and using artistic practice as a means of communicating with the public to create dialogue. Inspired by the life experiences and coping strategies of the communities living in the countryside of El Salvador, Víctor Cruz & Hugo Portillo’s work, while capturing the essence of collective responsibility dealing with life’s adversities, is not without a touch of black humor and parody that makes the viewer think.

His work has been featured in group exhibitions including “SUMARTE 2023”, Museo de Arte de El Salvador, San Salvador (2023), Parallel, Vienna (2021), “From here to here”, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2018) and “17 WRO Media Art Biennale”, Wroclaw (2017).