Monti Montalvo

After many years of becoming proficient in acrylic and spray paints, pastels, typography, resin, and silk screening, MEMENTO MORi was born. It has become my platform to tell stories of life and also to just create something beautiful. MEMENTO MORi began as a series representing the four existential dilemmas every human being faces in life: Death, Isolation, Freedom of Choice, and Meaninglessness. Even though these four are constants in life, thinking about them creates discomfort. So, we do not. To avoid anxiety, we end up living as if we will never die. MEMENTO MORi is a reminder to live more authentically and purposefully. The typography I created for that purpose, DONOTDENYME, is used in every MEMENTO MORi piece. MEMENTO MORi’s main character, the Resurrection Angel, is an actual sculpture located in Campo Verano cemetery in Rome. In the late 1800’s, the sculpture was created by Giulio Monteverde for his own grave where he and family members now rest. For some, Monteverde’s Resurrection Angel is the “Mona Lisa” of funerary art. Standing in front of her creates contradictory feelings. She is beautiful. She is peaceful. It’s as if I know her. Watching her timeless beauty and grace contradicts the seriousness in her facial express...

Self-taught

SOLO EXHIBITION
@Blue Oak
815 Cherry Lane
San Carlos, CA
2022

The de Young Open
@de Young Museum
San Francisco, CA
2020

THE OTHER ART FAIR LOS ANGELES
@Barker Hangar
Santa Monica
April 16th-19th, 2020

SOLO EXHIBITION
@District San Francisco
216 Townsend Street
San Francisco, CA
December 23, 2019 - March 23, 2020

THE OTHER ART FAIR LOS ANGELES
@Barker Hangar
Santa Monica
September 5-8, 2019

SOLO EXHIBITION
@Pacific Art League​
668 Ramona Street, Palo Alto, CA
Opening night: April 5, 2019 (4/5 thru 4/25)

GROUP EXHIBITION
@Andra Norris Gallery
1107 Burlingame Avenue, Burlingame, CA
November 3rd 2018 - January 6th 2019
SOLO EXHIBITION
@Andra Norris Gallery
1107 Burlingame Avenue, Burlingame, CA
October 26, 2018 - November 30, 2018

ONGOING SOLO EXHIBITION
@JOHNSTON'S SALTBOX
1696 Laurel Street, San Carlos, CA