Improbable Landscapes, Santiago Montoya
Featured in the exhibition is a series that the artist first launched at PINTA Art Fair in London, back in 2011. Entitled Forgive me Father for I have Painted, a set of over 30 methacrylate resin blocks have been imbedded with Montoya's own paint brushes and used tubes of acrylic paints. These pieces work in response to the conflict over painting within the contemporary arts, particularly the fascination and development within new media and technology, thus resulting in the condemnation of the classical and art historical techniques. A brush and tube of paint are now fossilised; frozen in time to be seen as a way of the past. Montoya opens this debate as he asks, 'if painting is a means and not an end in itself, why all the fuss?'
Another focus of the exhibition, large scale Jacquard-style tapestries will be showcased for the first time. Montoya continues to explore the psychological aesthetic, as well as the cultural and ritualistic aspects of currency, across new and textural surfaces. Redefining the iconography once printed on paper bills is now a richly woven story, depicting scenes of somewhat conceivable yet non-existent landscapes. These new interpretations present a concept of what is really at stake in our 'new' economic and cultural landscape, while harking back to early Modernism when tapestries were not only portable, but were indicative of enormous wealth and social standing. Digitally printed onto the textiles, these works pay homage to the modern tradition of pointillism which originated during a time of social and economic unrest in Europe dating back over a century, yet still relevant today.
