Chico Montecristi

Chico Montecristi is a Dominican-American oil painter, writer, and educator based in Yuma, Arizona. Born in Santiago, Dominican Republic, and raised in the South Bronx, New York, he has developed a figurative practice rooted in expressionism, cultural identity, and emotional directness.

His paintings — portraits of women and men, faces and figures — are characterized by bold, loose brushwork and an unconventional approach to framing. Montecristi builds most of his frames from found wood, wire mesh, dried
flowers, and industrial materials, treating the frame itself as an extension of the painted image. Each piece is conceived as a complete object.

His work is informed by his Caribbean heritage, his years in the South Bronx, and the communities he has lived and taught in across Arizona. His subjects are real people — neighbors, community members, cultural figures —rendered with psychological presence and emotional honesty.

Montecristi is a recipient of a Creative Youth Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts (2022) and has been recognized by the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards at the University of Arizona (2020). His work has been exhibited at Arts HQ Gallery (Surprise, AZ), Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery (Tucson, AZ...

University of Rochester — B.S. Public Health-Epidemiology
University of Rochester — M.S.Ed. Spanish Education 2012

Arts HQ Gallery, Surprise, AZ — Introspective, 2024
First Studio Gallery, Phoenix, AZ — Recyclamation, 2024
Flowing Wells Pima County Public Library, Tucson, AZ — 2024
Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery, Tucson, AZ — Papel, 2022
&Gallery, Tucson, AZ — Hip-Hop Art, 2022