Maceo Montoya: Retratos y Cuentos
October 12 - 31, 2007
Reception: Friday, October 12 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Maceo Montoya received his BA in History from Yale University in 2002 and an MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University in 2006. He was born into a family of artists and is the son of Malaquias Montoya, a world-renowned printmaker and poster artist. He was raised to believe in the potency of storytelling. He was exposed to the importance of conveying histories and expressing one's feelings in an attempt to depict the human condition. His artwork is a reflection of this upbringing. Montoya is a constant observer of life, both its beauty and its hardship. The characters and scenes he paints are imaginary, but they are derived from articles and essays he has read, stories he has heard directly, and his own experiences. His creative impulses are stirred by stories of people overcoming hardships, risking their lives to provide for their families, and staking claim to their place on this earth.
Montoya’s work often deals with Mexican immigrants. However, his goal is not to represent an overarching experience or identity but to give a specific human face – as a simple meditative portrait or as an elaborate series of intertwining compositions – to those he identifies with and feels intimately connected. He is not an immigrant or poor, yet he sees himself as a citizen of a world dominated by poverty, hunger, toil, war, and death. He chooses to tell stories both reflecting and revealing that reality, from the subtle to the confrontational.
Montoya will also be a part of CMAS’ Platicarte Series on October 10 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm at the Texas Union, Chicano Culture Room (4.206) at The University of Texas at Austin. The title of his presentation is “Immigrant Narratives: Painting as Fiction”.
You may visit www.utexas.edu/depts/cmas for more information. This exhibit is co-sponsored by the Center for Mexican American Studies, the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Fine Arts, the Department of Art and Art History, and the Center for African and African American Studies of The University of Texas at Austin.