DEKALB, Ill.
Malaquias Montoya, one of the nation’s top Chicano artists, will be on hand for the opening reception of an exhibit of his artworks, Northern Illinois University announced.
Emily Prieto, director of the Northern Illinois University Latino Resource Center, which is organizing the event, said Montoya “is among the most prominent living Chicano artists.”
The reception for Montoya will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, at the Nehring Gallery, 111 S. Second St., DeKalb. The exhibit will run through Oct. 15.
The university said Montoya’s works, 23 paintings and prints titled “Globalization & War: The Aftermath,” depict the consequences of power and conflict.
“His work is extremely powerful because the edgy imagery evokes many emotions in his audience, and all of the pieces are tied to social protest messages,” Prieto says. “Looking at his art pieces compels a person to do something to positively impact humanity.”
Montoya is a leading figure in the West Coast political Chicano graphic arts movement and has works in the collections of the Smithsonian, the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and more than a dozen other museums, libraries and universities.
