malaquias montoya/ Brittany Kennedy

It is a privilege to be taught by an artist who has made a mark in the art world. Malaquias Montoya is a well known poster artist and major artist for the Chicano Art Movement. Many of his works stem from the subject of the Chicano Culture. I am currently in his Contemporary Studio course and though I do not have a great appreciation for the art of printmaking I do gravitate towards the silkscreen process. Towards the end of my undergraduate education the idea to make art work fueled from a concept or body of work has become more pressed. I have worked in a intuitional manner up until last year. This has caused me to be more appreciative of those who do work off of a concept such as Montoya. His works in terms of graphic quality and tonal ranges between colors make his work interesting to me. I have contemplated how Montoya and Libby work off of a set concept and allow there work to flow from there. This style of producing work has led me into a set body of work stemming from consumerism into advertisements' objectification of women and men. As time goes on I get more and more excited about finding a body of work to produce art within or finding a deeper avenue from the body of work I am currently working with. This reassures me of my ability to succeed in making a living off of my art work and encourages me as an artist to be an artist.

**Also while doing research on Montoya I found that he was in the Marines and later used the GI Bill to attend a University in California to study art. I thought it was interesting that he makes such political work emphasizing the Chicano Movement and that he also served this country. This reads across as very interesting. People may move on and make adjustments to advance their lives however one who stays openly true to their background never seize to amaze me. :-)