Taking a chance on art: San Carlos artist seeks to inspire pursuit of passions, truths

“I just started playing with everything, I just dove into it,” he said. “It was like my schooling.”

Looming large in almost all of the pieces Montalvo, who goes by MONTi, has shown on the Peninsula is the likeness of the Angel of the Resurrection statue sculpted by 19th century Italian artist Giulio Monteverde. On large wooden panels no smaller than 4 feet wide and 4 feet tall, the angel is featured prominently, oftentimes layered over or under phrases such as “memento mori,” Latin for “remember you will die,” and “do not deny me.”

MONTi credits his interest in fashion and early use of several media with defining his layered approach to his pieces, which are currently being shown at California Art Supply Company at 3600 S. El Camino Real in San Mateo and Johnston’s Saltbox in San Carlos, where he also works as a bartender two nights a week. Many of the pieces are also finished with several layers of resin, which lends them a shine that can mask the texture of the cardstock, paint and diamond dust MONTi often uses in his pieces.

MONTi said he has begun each new project with at least one layer of cardstock strips reading “do not deny me,” even if he ends up placing silkscreens or painting over them.

“It’s like a ritual for me,” he said. “Even if I paint over it and you can’t see it, I still do it. It’s almost like therapy to me, I think about what I’m going to do with this piece.”

Having also shown his work at the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto and at galleries in San Francisco, MONTi said he is often asked about the focus on the Angel of the Resurrection statue in his nearly 20 pieces. Having attended Catholic school for 12 years in Berkeley, MONTi said the image is prevalent in his childhood memories.

For him, the angel is more than just an icon and can tell the stories of existential psychiatrist Irvin Yalom’s four “givens” of the human condition, which MONTi said include isolation, meaninglessness, mortality and freedom. Though some have seen dark themes in his work, MONTi views his signature phrase “memento mori” as a reminder to live in the moment and create one’s own reality.

“You are what you make yourself, you make your own reality,” he said. “Basically, I’m doing that right now.”

MONTi said his wife Pinar Matles, who is a marriage and family therapist, has been an inspiration and source of support as he made a transition to art. Though he had been bashful initially to share his work, MONTi said positive thinking and the existential cognitive behavioral therapy his wife introduced him to has allowed him to devote himself to art.

Also devoted to his wife’s two children and their two dogs, MONTi said he enjoys talking about his art with diners at Johnston’s Saltbox, where he has bartended for some three years. He credited Sean Johnston and Jennifer McAteer Johnston with believing in his work and displaying it in the restaurant they own and operate at 1696 Laurel St.

Sean Johnston said his wife was first drawn to MONTi’s work when she spotted one of his pieces at a gallery in Burlingame and was excited to learn the artist behind the piece was one of their employees. Because the restaurant’s decor makes sparing use of color, some of MONTi’s neutral-toned and black-and-white pieces have complemented the space well and are frequently photographed by diners, noted Johnston.

“We love it,” he said. “It kind of fits into the vibe we have here.”

MONTi said he has plans to show his work in Los Angeles and New York this fall, and looked forward to sharing his work with an even larger audience. Though he acknowledged the challenge of balancing his work, family and the time he spends in his garage bringing new pieces to life, he said he hoped to keep his art at the center of his life.

“You have to be dedicated, you have to live it and breathe it,” he said. “You’ve got to put it out there, you can’t be bashful.”

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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