There is a message behind every silk-screen, poster and sketch he has created over the past 40 years as an artist and educator. They all reflect themes of injustice, resistance, strength and international struggle.
“When someone paints the color red- someone might see blood, others, beautiful red roses, a pizza splash – In the work that I do, I want to be as clear as possible with no misunderstanding,” said Malaquias Montoya, a Professor Emeritus University of California, Davis.
His work has been showcased across the country, from universities to churches. He’s considered the forbearer of serigraphy in Chicano art, silk-screen poster-making born in the mid-sixties that quickly became a popular medium of expression among progressives for its depictions of themes of social justice and politics.
“As a Chicano artist I feel a responsibility that all my art should be a reflection of my political beliefs, ‘an art of protest,” he said.
The impact of Montoya’s work has reached thousands of activists involved in Filipino and Chicano grape strikes, the Third World Strike of 1969, and the seminal formation of the Mexican American Art Liberation Front (with members such as Galeria de la Raza Founder René Yáñez). These people are among the few that used Montoya’s body of work to grow their respective social justice movements.
“This was a very exciting time for me, because I could speak about injustices through art, and be very eloquent about it,” said Montoya, who later continued his studies at the University of California, Berkeley. “The Filipino grape strike joining with the farm worker strike in Delano- that was really exciting because All of a sudden- it was about us, it was about my parents, and the people I know”.
Art on the Line
“All of my work is inspired by my background as a farm worker and identifies with the working people,” said Montoya. Born in Albuquerque, N.M., to a family of farm workers Montoya travelled between New Mexico and Fresno, Calif., depending on the seasons of harvest.
He prefers to exhibit his work at schools or places accessible to people on the margins of society, rather than restricting his work to galleries and museums. Montoya explains that his work doesn’t seek notoriety, but instead reflects the boundaries these people struggle to overcome; as well as his philosophy as an educator and his way of life – he considers this “studio time”.
“The biggest contradiction that artists have, is that they want to be known, famous artists within the (status quo). But the system is not going to let you talk (negatively) about them and make you famous. If your art is not selling, you have to make it palatable to the audience and pretty soon, you will be doing culture, exoticism and culture without politics –it is acceptable, because it doesn’t bother anyone – it doesn’t challenge anyone – and I think that’s one of the things we have to be aware of,” Montoya added.
According to Montoya, culture within any given society depends on the capacity of the members of that society to develop their potential, according to Montoya. If the members of a society are not given the opportunity, democracy or culture is hard to establish.
He points out with fire in his eye that youth should work to understand the work around them, and strive to interpret its machinations. “The more you know about the world, the bigger your vocabulary will become, and the more you have to speak”.
“Our youth and so many of us are already in a prison, because of all the diversions we have. Yes, you can go to a rally – we live in society that allows you to be a revolutionary in the morning, and in the afternoon or evening, you can enjoy all the vices that all capitalism has to offer. Now that is a contradiction,” he said.
Shaping minds, a class at a time
After the Third World Strike of 1969, the UC Berkeley offered a position as a lecturer of Chicano Studies, an offer he accepted. He would later found Chicano Center—a place that taught students to critically examine the context of American society in relation to Mexican history, culture and the politics affecting the Chicano community. He taught them how art could mobilize a community.
Montoya would spend the next 40 years teaching at a number of institutions of higher learning such as the California College of Arts & Crafts, the University of Notre Dame, Stanford, and the UC Davis where he currently works as a professor of art.
“Everyday I’d have 30-to-40 students, and it was my job to make them aware of the injustices happening—and for someone who believes in social justice, it was a wonderful place to be,” he said.
The Fire Within
The drive behind Montoya’s work is not monetary. He refuses to sell his work for a profit, most of the time he just gives it away. He profits from what he considers triumphs of the human spirit: letters from his students, teachers or chance encounters with admirers of his work.
He tells a story of a man he met at an art exhibition at the Berkeley Art Center who was looking at a work he created for the San Quentin Prisoners Release in 1969, works of art dealing with the death penalty that occasionally tour in a show entitled “Premeditated: Meditations on Capital Punishment, Recent Works by Malaquias Montoya.”
The man approached Montoya and told him what the piece meant to him, a story involving a stiff folded cardboard that was being passed around in prison.
“That was a very, very moving moment for me,” Montaya said.
“My work addresses issues that are affecting all of us, especially those living in the margins. I want my work to be empowering, to be accusatory art. Accuse whoever is responsible for the crimes being committed,” Montaya said of his work and what he wants it to convey. “(But I don’t just want to show) who is responsible, but how we can resolve the problem. You can’t get all those things at one time. But you hope your artwork can move people, that they could want to change, and that they (can be given) the opportunity for change.”