Malaquias Montoya (2011)
by Terezita Romo
Premeditated: Meditations on Capital Punishment (2004)
Globalization and War - The Aftermath (2008)
Malaquias Montoya has lectured at countless universities, colleges and cultural centers throughout the country. His lecture and slide presentations describe the arc of his career as an artist, activist and educator, in addition to demonstrating the wide range of his work and subject matter. His non-traditional views on art and unwavering creative output address important issues of our time, keeping Montoya in the forefront of the cultural landscape. Interdisciplinary scholars often seek out Montoya because of his ability to integrate art with current events such as immigration, criminal justice reform, and cultural identity.
Credited by social historians as one of the founders of the "social serigraphy" movement in the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1960's, Malaquias Montoya has inspired generations of artists. He has dedicated his life to informing and educating those neglected and exploited peoples whose lives are at risk due to racism, sexism and cultural oppression. He continues to exhibit extensively around the country in a wide variety of locations, from university museums to cultural centers and community galleries. Group exhibitions are also important to him because they put him in touch with artists whose political and artistic philosophies are in conversation with his own.
Montoya's art crosses many disciplines (e.g. Social Sciences, American Studies, Cultural Studies, History, Law, etc.), and as a result, his images have been featured in a myriad of publications. Unlike many artists whose work is more personal and turned inward, Montoya's aesthetic is forged by a collective sensibility, resulting in work that is far-reaching and global in nature.
Never wanting to compromise the political nature of his work, Montoya made a conscious decision at the outset of his career not to sell his art or to exhibit in commercial galleries. Over the years, however, he has made special edition prints for sale and will sell work on a case-by-case basis. If interested please see contact info above.
