Over the course of five decades Filipino artist Jose “Bogie” Tence Ruiz has advocated for social realism across paintings, illustrations, graphic design, and curatorial work, embracing the label with what he calls “the broadest definition.” Emerging onto the scene during the dictatorship of former president Ferdinand Marcos, Ruiz worked through (and sometimes ) the volatile sociopolitical shifts of his nation, and like so many of his compatriots he lived part of the time abroad, mostly in Singapore, where he struggled to support his family after the revolution brought an end to Marcos’ regime. During a long and storied career Ruiz has created thousands of works, one of the most important of which is , a book he self-published during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ruiz is widely recognized as a founding member of Kaisahan, an artists’ group formed in 1976 concerned with nationalits decision to publicly fund the country’s art institutions.
