Duvian Montoya

Duvian Montoya paints scenes from life and the immigrant laborer is the subject of a series produced between 2008 and 2015. Born in Connecticut, to Colombian immigrant parents, his art reflects and engages with the immigrant world. Two of his works in the Mattatuck collection put the immigrant issue of labor in the spotlight. The topic is presented in a clean, crisp, realist style using a unique brush stroke in applying bold colors. After graduating from Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts, Montoya traveled to Europe to study techniques used by the Old Masters and was especially impressed by the expressionist brushwork of Vincent Van Gogh. His work exemplifies this influence and training, his cultural heritage, social issues and personal observations of everyday life. “As an artist, I feel that reflecting on our time is my duty,” says Montoya. His worker series deals with American immigrants, a group of people often blamed, on the main stage of politics for the country’s problems in health care, social security, education and homeland security. The geometric composition of Our Housekeepers (2008) provides a stage-like setting for the curved figure of a women who bends to change the linen on a bed placed in the foreground. The background red wall is interrupted by long, green, pleated drapery that frames a large window softened by sheer curtains. Situated between the window and the bed at midground is a young woman wearing a brown apron overall over a white blouse and jeans. Intent on her work, she looks down to the sheet that she prepares to tuck in after giving it a shake. Using a long view of rolling lush green lawn, Montoya places a large, professional mowing machine in the front of the boldly colored Our Landscapers 4 (2014). Interrupting the strongly demarcated lines of the mown lawn behind him a man in T-shirt and jeans controls the mower as it moves forward into the viewer’s space. Engine and mechanical part of the machine are detailed and its prominence in the scene is unmistakable. Many of us see and hear the landscaping machines in our yards and neighborhoods – perhaps, as in this painting, the man behind the machine is less obvious. As with others in this series, Montoya honors the worker whose efforts in the background of our lives goes mostly unseen and unsung. Each painting, as these two, offers viewers a humane glimpse of individuals, working toward a better life, so that one might see the importance of the roles they fill in American society.