Offshoot Arts are proud to present a solo presentation by Santiago Montoya at Context Art Miami.  The fair opens on 29th November and runs until 4th December 2022.

 

At first sight, the visual impact of Santiago Montoya’s epic work is a vibration of colour, abstraction, meticulous detail and immaculate arrangements that dazzle the viewer.  It is only upon close inspection that the artist’s medium is revealed - infinite rows of global bank notes that are methodically and meditatively aligned. 

The viewer is immediately absorbed by the painstaking labour involved to create these vistas of colour and pattern, often punctuated by arresting texts.  The seductive colour palette and imagery belies the more unsettling issues that Montoya highlights and questions.  Beyond the aesthetic impact, Montoya implicitly investigates the fundamental fabric of our society, and its systems and hierarchies that are the framework for the world we inhabit. 

 

Especially for Context, Santiago unveils a new series of ‘Let’s Do The Numbers’ that incorporate bank notes that have been gilded with 24 Karat gold leaf. 

 

“Every day I would drive to my studio listening to the radio and there was this segment of the program called ‘Let’s do the numbers’, which was about the economy in the world, with the most important current events.  All of a sudden I had a spark of lucidity and, bang, the series was born.” – Santiago Montoya.

 

This body of work questions the multi-faceted and multi-layered relationship that we have with global financial, numerical and monetary systems.  Montoya transforms and transcends this ubiquitous medium into extraordinary works of art that challenge and seduce.  The dreams and delusions of wealth and power are simultaneously conveyed in monumental works that capture the complexities of our time.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born in 1974 in Bogotá, Colombia, Santiago Montoya lives and works in Miami, USA.

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Montoya’s practice has been dedicated to the exploration of notions of value, nationalism, commodities and the universal consequences and nuances of the production and distribution of wealth. Initially a painter, an inspired progression was to incorporate the actual raw materials in his work – global currencies, gold, silver, copper and other precious materials – exposing the disconnect between official state ideologies and reality itself. Montoya captures the collective consciousness, questioning the systems of power and shining a light on the disparities, injustices, and the absurd. Montoya’s works combine a wry humour and acute insight on a global subject that affects us all, and the inherent systems and structures that we live by.

 

Recent exhibitions include solo exhibitions at the Somerville Museum in Massachusetts, USA; DRCIAS at Harvard, Massachusetts, USA; 'Trust' with Offshoot Arts at Context Art Miami 2021; selected group exhibitions include  ‘Elsewhere(s)’ at Untitled Art Fair, curated by José Luis Falconi and Estrellita Brodsky, Miami; ‘Seeds of Resistance’ at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum in Michigan, USA and Art Museum of the Americas, Washington D.C.  Montoya’s work is highly collected in both public and private collections, including MFA Boston, AMA Washington D.C, Rose Art Museum, Massachusetts, USA; Dell Children's Medical Centre, TX, USA; Jill & Peter Kraus, and Estrellita & Daniel Brodsky, amongst others.