Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Eay For An Ese: A Tribute to Chicano Artist Jos Montoya

29/06/2016

Jos Montoya, Untitled, date unknown. Ink on paper. 29 x 15.5 cm. Courtesy of the Montoya Family Trust.

Jos Montoya (1932-2013) captured the sentiments and struggles of the Chicano movement through his work as a poet, artist, educator and activist. A key figure of the movement, Montoya's writings and drawings depicted zoot suiters, campesinos, pachucos and pachucas, revolutionaries, and everyday people that share Chicano history.

Currently on view at the Fowler Museum, exhibition Jos Montoya's Abundant Harvest: Works on Paper/Works on Life presents over 2,000 works. Co-curated by his son Richard Montoya -- actor, director and playwright -- and Selene Preciado, the restrospective examines the legacy of the prolific artist.

In the essay below, Richard reflects on his father's creative process, his work in the fields and his last moments on this earth.

Being around my father's works for the last two years has taught me a great many things, chief among them is that the man, the artist, the teacher keeps teaching long after he has departed this physical world and that he was very present in the room where we curated, where my objectivity was challenged daily -- and rightfully so because I have none! Jos was not sentimental in the execution of these drawings, and neither should we be in presenting and writing about them.

The sheer number of his drawings -- their epic scale -- defies imagination. When and how did he capture this sea of humanity? The cantinas, the labor camps and fields, the churches, the union halls, the barrio streets, corridors of power, and academia, all called him, but so did more than one movement, a fiery national poetry scene and a man named Cesar, plus a large family with many mouths to feed!

When did he have time to create the portraits of so many? Framing their moment with as few lines as a Beat poet? Perhaps part of the riddle is locked in the economy of his line. He was moving, and so his pen and pencil were as well! There is as much an existential question in these works as there is simplicity and beauty. Jos was so committed to being On the Road that when he and his compadre Esteban Villa went to the corner for a six-pack, they came back two months later from a cross-country trip that included a sojourn in NYC. Playing their guitarras the entire way!

Jos Montoya, Untitled, date unknown. Paint on paper. 89 x 58.5 cm. Courtesy of the Montoya Family Trust.

And no! That's not just one pachuca, there are hundreds, not one sailor but fleets of them on the Pacific, not one pachuco but several barrios of them, not one se ora but everyone one he could capture in the improbable time he had or would allow himself for each drawing. The scampering derelict dog in the barrio or a barfly sitting on a stool for mere minutes -- the artist as chronicler recording his subject's very existence as well as his own.

In looking at these drawing I try to guess where he was at that given time. Where was he existing? Like a Chicano Buddha in the corner, observing all, watching all quietly. Co-curating Abundant Harvest was akin to a true detective story, a kind of forensic poetics where the subject is your father. Complex stuff. Looking for family and one's own self in the work. The magic begins when you stop looking.

Paradoxes: The public man whose very public life was about being at the center of many great Chicano moments. They could be chaotic times, yet his lens was astonishingly selfless. Still. Calm. His steady hand, his drawing was very intimate, almost private, yet carried out in large public spaces.

Jos Montoya, Untitled, date unknown. Ink on paper. 24 x 13 cm. Courtesy of the Montoya Family Trust.

--

--

The biggest lesson perhaps is that there is little objectification here. He never objectified his subject. The women are not dolled up, there is color and there is some erotica, oh yes: a clitoris or two this son could not recognize! The artist as voyeur who does not intrude, he allows a respectful distance and understanding of his subject. There is another important lesson of blue-collar discipline at work here. Following the Dust Bowl and post-war America, one had to work! Jos 's skill is honed, no shortcuts, no iPhone applications, just drawing after drawing, row after row, grape tray after tray, church pew after pew. Repetition yes, yet these are not studies nor are they doodlings.

Echoes of a Catholicism perhaps born in those small wooden, valley churches he wrote poems about, Irish Priest Chicano Sinners. Less a religious zeal than a knowing of the dogged toil of working mile after mile of vineyard row -- a discipline he marvelled at while admitting that, unlike the rest of his family, he was a lackluster farmworker!

Heartbreaking. Breathtaking. The artist noting and telling the world of his field-hand shortcomings at the precise moment his skill and discipline as an artist are taking root and blossoming. That he didn't see his art making or writing as privilege or a higher calling gives the man great irony, warm humor, and a Steinbeck-like affinity for humanity.

Out of all these reasons, lessons, and paradoxes, the idea of the grape tray and fruit box as bearer and protector of his works was born. His family may have had the ability to pick five hundred trays a day, quinienteros! But as Jos tenderly notes in his epic poem below, the life of the iridescent worm under the shade and protection of the grape-leaf world was more important to him. And under his watch, they were safe, and in this shade and improbable safe space, the twin seeds of artist and poet were beautifully and deeply planted.

Jos Montoya, Untitled, date unknown. Ink on paper. 23 x 8 cm. Courtesy of the Montoya Family Trust.

Resonant Valley

When I was

Young among

The pregnant

Vineyards of

All the un-domed

Capitals of

T
LINK: https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/jose-montoya-chicano-artist-abunda...
See more stories from kcet

Most recent headlines

09/12/2024

Dalet Named an IDC Innovator in Media and Entertainment

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced that it has been named an IDC Innovator in the IDC Innovators: ...

23/11/2024

Heartwarming Out of My Mind Highlights the Importance of Disability Advocacy

PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 19: (L-R) Judith Light, Rosemarie Dewitt, Luke Kirby, Michael Chernus, Phoebe-Rae Taylor, Sharon M. Draper, Amber Sealey, and Courtney...

23/11/2024

TCLtv+ Adds 23 CBS Fast Channels

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK TCL's streaming service TCLtv+ has struck a content deal with Paramount Streaming that will add 23 CBS FAST channels to its lineup....

23/11/2024

Viamedia Signs Ad Rep Deals with 7 More Service Providers

LEXINGTON, Ky. The independent advertising rep firm Viamedia has further expanded its sales network with news that it has agreements to manage advertising sale...

23/11/2024

The Trade Desk Jumps Into Streaming TV With Ventura OS

VENTURA, Calif. Programmatic ad giant The Trade Desk is pushing into the streaming technology business with a new operating system called Ventura....

23/11/2024

Writers Guild, 3 PBS Stations Reach Tentative Agreement for New Contract

BOSTON, LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK The Writers Guild of America has announced that it has reached a tentative agreement with management at PBS member stations WGB...

23/11/2024

Supreme Court to Consider Legality of FCC's Universal Service Fund

WASHINGTON, D.C. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in a case that alleges the FCC does not have the authority to decide how funds from the Uni...

22/11/2024

Michelle Satter to Be Honored at 2025 Sundance Film Festival Gala Celebrating Sundance Institute Presented by Google TV

Sean Wang, Julian Brave NoiseCat, and Emily Kassie to Receive Annual Vanguard Aw...

22/11/2024

Spotify Inks a New Partnership With Bloomsbury To Offer A Greater Assortment of Audiobooks

Our library continues to grow. In 2022, we announced the addition of audiobooks ...

22/11/2024

SBS wins Australian Podcast Publisher of the Year for third year running

SBS wins Australian Podcast Publisher of the Year for third year running 22 November, 2024 Media releases An outstanding slate of multilingual, multicultur...

22/11/2024

Film Lighting: a Cinematic Guide w/ Free Lighting Plots

Home Applications Film Lighting: a Cinematic Guide w/ Free Lighting Plots Your Guide to Film Lighting In this guide, we'll explore the history of fil...

22/11/2024

Fox, Hulu Renew Content Deal

Fox Entertainment and Hulu have renewed a multi-year content distribution agreement that will keep in-season streaming rights for Fox's programming slate on...

22/11/2024

Academy Award-Winning Film Studio Caviar Signs Director Duo MAMA

Academy Award-Winning Film Studio Caviar Signs Director Duo MAMA Brie Clayton November 22, 2024 0 Comments Academy Award-winning independent film stud...

22/11/2024

A Creative Alliance for Black Friday: Independent Software Makers Unite for Photographers

A Creative Alliance for Black Friday: Independent Software Makers Unite for Phot...

22/11/2024

Partial Bold Text using After Effects expressions UPDATED

Partial Bold Text using After Effects expressions UPDATED Graham Quince November 22, 2024 0 Comments Now with an improved expression for Per Word Se...

22/11/2024

John Lawson Steps Down as AWARN Executive Director

WASHINGTON John Lawson, longtime broadcast alerting advocate and founder of the AWARN Alliance, said he is stepping down as its executive director to work full-...

22/11/2024

Red, white and Blue Lucy UK media tech provider reaches across the Pond

Entering the American market follows a period of significant growth for the company By Matthew Corrigan Published: November 22, 2024 Entering the American...

22/11/2024

Warner Bros. Discovery Introduces Shop With Max and Moments

NEW YORK Warner Bros. Discovery Advertising Sales has incorporated Kerv's AI-enhanced technology into its ad-tech platform and launched two new ad offerings...

22/11/2024

EDO, Vizio Ink New Multiyear Smart-TV Data Licensing Pact

NEW YORK Vizio's Inscape, a smart-TV data provider, and EDO said they have extended their longstanding data partnership....

22/11/2024

New Pixotope Reveal Enables AR, Virtual Production Without Green Screens

OSLO, Norway Live augmented reality and virtual production specialist Pixotope Technologies has launched Pixotope Reveal, an AI-powered background segmentation ...

22/11/2024

Nominations Open for 2025 NAB Technology Awards

The National Association of Broadcasters has opened nominations for the 2025 NAB Technology Awards, recognizing excellence in broadcast engineering, digital lea...

22/11/2024

Thanksgiving TV Sports Ad-Spend Binge To Hit $624 Million

In between helpings of turkey and other Thanksgiving Day fare, viewers will see companies dishing up hefty portions of ads on sports programming, with the natio...

22/11/2024

8 Channels Added to MyFree DirecTV Streaming Lineup

Following the recent launch of the MyFree DirecTV free-ad supported package of 70-plus streaming channels, DirecTV has launched eight new channels catering to s...

22/11/2024

Viant, Disney Advertising Expand CTV Ad Collaboration

IRVINE, Calif. Viant Technology said it has expanded its agreement with Disney Advertising that's focused on making premium connected TV, video and display ...

22/11/2024

Xumo To Make Ad Inventory Available Programmatically With PubMatic

PHILADELPHIA and REDWOOD CITY, Calif. Xumo, the streaming platform joint venture of Comcast and Charter Communications, has reached an agreement to make its pre...

22/11/2024

Mediaocean To Acquire Innovid, Will Merge It With Flashtalking

NEW YORK Privately-held ad tech giant Mediaocean has inked a definitive agreement to acquire Innovid, an independent software platform for advertising creation,...

22/11/2024

Viz University introduces new Viz Artist certifications aimed at upskilling designers of all levels

Viz University introduces new Viz Artist certifications aimed at upskilling desi...

22/11/2024

NBC Sports President Rick Cordella on How Comcast's NBCU Cable-Net Spinoff Will Impact Sports Ops

NBC Sports President Rick Cordella on How Comcast's NBCU Cable-Net Spinoff W...

22/11/2024

NWSL Championship 2024: CBS Sports Caps Off First Year of In-House Broadcasts With Saturday's Final in Kansas City

NWSL Championship 2024: CBS Sports Caps Off First Year of In-House Broadcasts Wi...

22/11/2024

Premier League To Establish In-House Media-Operations Business for 2026-27 Season

Premier League To Establish In-House Media-Operations Business for 2026-27 Seaso...

22/11/2024

SailGP Season 5 Set to Be Most Expansive Yet'

SailGP Season 5 set to be most expansive yet' By George Bevir Friday, November 22, 2024 - 10:34 Print This Story SailGP: The New Zealand Sail Grand P...

22/11/2024

SailGP Season 5: New Broadcasters, New Requirements

SailGP Season 5: New broadcasters, new requirements By George Bevir Friday, November 22, 2024 - 10:34 Print This Story The Germany SailGP team in action a...

22/11/2024

SailGP Season 5: AI Cameras to Get Viewers Closer to the Action

SailGP Season 5: AI cameras to get viewers closer to the action By George Bevir Friday, November 22, 2024 - 10:33 Print This Story Getting viewers closer ...

22/11/2024

SailGP Season 5: Getting Umpires Onscreen and More Studio-Based Content

SailGP Season 5: Getting umpires onscreen and more studio-based content By George Bevir Friday, November 22, 2024 - 10:33 Print This Story Australia SailG...

22/11/2024

SailGP Season 5: Enhanced LiveLine Graphics Bring Augmented Reality to Chase Boats

SailGP Season 5: Enhanced LiveLine graphics bring augmented reality to chase boa...

22/11/2024

Full House: Inside Production of the European Curling Championships

Full house: Inside production of the European Curling Championships By Kevin Hilton Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 12:40 Print This Story Curling star Anna...

22/11/2024

NBC Sports President Rick Cordella on How Comcast's NBCU Cable Net Spinoff Will Impact Sports Ops

NBC Sports President Rick Cordella on How Comcast's NBCU Cable Net Spinoff W...

22/11/2024

Sky and Peacock's Original hit drama series The Day of the Jackal scores a second season renewal

Sky and Peacock's Original hit drama series The Day of the Jackal scores a s...

22/11/2024

Rugged Rugby: Conquer or Die' Premieres December 10: A Battle for Supremacy Begins

Back to All News Rugged Rugby: Conquer or Die' Premieres December 10: A Ba...

22/11/2024

Standards Pavilion elevates the role of standards in advancing climate action at COP29

Friday 22 November, Baku, Azerbaijan: As COP29 wraps up in Azerbaijan, the Stand...

22/11/2024

Let's Make Toy Show Day Official

Let's Make Toy Show Day Official The Late Late Toy Show | Friday December 6th | 9:35PM Watch Below The Late Late Toy Show is fast approaching and kids al...

22/11/2024

COOPANS, the Alliance Managing Europe's Largest Air Traffic Volume, Upgrades its Air Traffic Control (ATC) System with Thales

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn COOPANS is a leading international cooperation b...

22/11/2024

Press release

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Thales confirms that the Parquet National Financier (PNF) in France and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in the United Kingdom hav...

22/11/2024

RT General Election 2024: Critical Election Period

The broadcasting regulator, Coimisi n na Me n has removed the traditional broadcast Moratorium for television and radio. In the past, this applied from 14:00 ...

21/11/2024

Neneh Cherry Takes Us on a Musical Journey Inspired by Her Memoir, A Thousand Threads'

Neneh Cherry, a musical trailblazer for more than three decades, is full of stor...

21/11/2024

6 Spotify Audiobook Features That Level Up Your Listening Experience

Since launching our audiobooks offering, we've continuously upped our game on designing a user experience that provides seamless and engaging listening. You...

21/11/2024

SEP 2024 / PAG launches new MPL150 Battery at IBC24

1ST SEPTEMBER 2024 PAG Ltd. UK, the creator of innovative, high-end portable power systems for the film and television industry, has announced the introduction...

21/11/2024

SEP 2024 / PAG Introduces new Cinergy Battery

1ST SEPTEMBER 2024 PAG Ltd. UK, the creator of innovative, high-end, portable power systems for the film and television industry, has announced the introductio...

21/11/2024

Celebrating The Best Of The Best

The HPA Awards exist to honor and recognize the accomplishments of the talented HPA community and to support their efforts with increased awareness and celebrat...

21/11/2024

L3Harris Co-Founder, Chair and CEO Chris Kubasik: Arsenal of Democracy 2.0 Will Require New Ways of Doing Business

He writes in POLITICO: When it comes to protecting our country, innovation and s...