Lives & Works: Mexico
URL: http://www.anamontiel.com Education: BFA (Hons) at Universidad de Barcelona (Spain) Fine Arts Secondary School at Escuela de Artes y Oficios de La Rioja (now called ESDIR)
Ana Montiel is a visual artist and designer currently based in Mexico. Her artistic practice is not medium defined but rests upon two main themes: perception and impermanence. It can be defined as a reflection on the limits of human experience, questioning how solid is our perception and delving into ideas borrowed from neuroscience and other disciplines, like the notion of reality being just a controlled hallucination. For Montiel, altered states of consciousness are tools to go beyond the easily perceived but she also embraces “normal waking state” ways of working. Her process is different with each project. The ideas behind are the ones that help me choose the most suitable media for each piece, be it a painting, a digital piece or a VR installation.
Montiel’s current project Hidden Realities includes a series of digital paintings that she is working on that she titles The Fields, an exploration into altered states of consciousness and new ways of questioning and perceiving the world.
With the drawings Visual Mantras she “explored repetitive drawing as a meditation itself and has developed a series of absorbing and richly colored geometries that bring up the cyclical rhythm of life.”
Ana Montiel’s work has been exhibited internationally. Currently, the exhibition FIELDS is on view at Sala Amós Salvador. Logroño, La Rioja (SP). Recent exhibitions include: 2017: FIELDS at Gran Salon México, Garash Gallery. Mexico City; FIELDS: Inner Monuments. Aparador Cuchilla at Aldo Chaparro’s studio. Mexico City; CAMMINANDO SULL’ACQUA; Galería Machete. Mexico City; 2016, COLOR EXPLOSION, Usagi. Hong Kong; ENERGY TRANSFER (BALANCE) , Matters of Space. Los Angeles; SECRET 7″, Sonos Studio. London; SHE LIGHTS UP THE NIGHT, Show at Protein Gallery and auction at Christie’s. London (UK); WORLD CLASS CREATORS, Bank Gallery. Tokyo (JP).
Support: Ana Montiel’s residency is made possible with support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, NY in collaboration with PEANA, NY.