UNCW University Union Exhibit Series Features Acrylic Paintings by Jon Montoya
12/20/2005 2:21:17 PM
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Wilmington, N.C. - "Down from the Mountain," an exhibit featuring acrylic paintings by artist Jon Montoya begins January 11 and runs through March 1 in UNCW's University Union Living Room Gallery. The opening reception will be held from 6-8 p.m., Thursday, January 26. Both the exhibit and reception are free and open to the public. The exhibit is sponsored by UNCW Presents' University Union Exhibit Series.
Montoya's themes are primarily landscape paintings that include both the mountain and prairie terrains of Colorado. Among the paintings are cityscapes, still life and a few contemporary paintings of trains (locomotive type).
To achieve the colorful, activated surface textures, Montoya uses hands-on techniques of pulling and lifting water - scraffito (rag blotching), impasto modeling and palette knife shaping. While some canvases maintain a child-like innocence in front of nature, others reveal more complex musings on form, space and time.
"I like the metaphor of a 'haiku as painting.' There is the suggestion of a story and myth generated in haiku with simple and succinct words, only I do this with color and brush strokes," says Montoya. Borrowing from the pen and ink artist of Japan, Montoya attempts to pare down his brushstrokes to capture the energy of nature.
Montoya is an architect and designer by trade, but loves the world of painting. Growing up in North Denver was not easy for him so he often found solace in painting. He recalls trips to his grandmother's house near Wagon Mound, in Northern New Mexico where he marveled at the wondrous colors of the landscape which nature created. It was from these landscapes that he created his paintings which he considers as his first love and as a "survival strategy for the soul."
Montoya received his BA in Art and Industrial Design from Metropolitan State College and holds two MAs in Architecture and Urban Design from the University of Colorado at Denver. He has participated in several groups shows in the Denver area including the Chicago Humanities Art Council, CORE Gallery and Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art. His work was recently published in July (2005) issue of SKY WEST magazine. Montoya works as an architect intern in Wilmington and lives with his wife and their two dogs in the farmland of Pender County.
To view samples of the artists' work, please visit our website at www.uncw.edu/arts.
The University Union is open Monday through Wednesday 7 a.m. - 12 midnight; Thursday and Friday, 7 a.m. - 1 a.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1 a.m., and Sundays 1 p.m. - 12 midnight. For information and directions, please contact the UNCW Presents office at 910.962.7971 or for a map to the campus, please visit www.uncw.edu/ba/campus_map.htm.
Media Contact: Tammi L. Berry, 962-7972 or berryt@uncw.edu
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