Monti Montalvo

After many years of becoming proficient in acrylic and spray paints, pastels, typography, resin, and silk screening, Memento Mori was born. It began as a series on the four existential dilemmas every human faces: Death, Isolation, Freedom of Choice, and Meaninglessness. We avoid thinking about them, so we live as if we will never die. Memento Mori is a reminder to live more authentically and purposefully.

Today the series has entered a new chapter. I am drawn to the idea of awakening: the moment when what was hidden comes into view and what once seemed impossible begins to feel inevitable. My recent work explores revelation, transformation, and the anticipation of what is coming. I paint what I feel in this moment, a mix of urgency, hope, and clarity.

The Resurrection Angel, sculpted by Giulio Monteverde in the late 1800s for his own grave in Rome's Campo Verano cemetery, remains my central figure. She is beautiful, peaceful, and serious all at once. Now she stands as a witness and messenger, a figure who has watched through time and seems to know what lies ahead. Is she something to fear, or the beauty of a life fully awakened?

Each piece begins with a wood panel wrapped in custom-made typography. From there I build layers of a...

Self-taught

BLUE OAK
815 Cherry Lane
San Carlos, CA
2022 - Present

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

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

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

Andra Norris Gallery
1107 Burlingame Avenue, Burlingame, CA
November 3rd 2018 - January 6th 2019

Andra Norris Gallery
1107 Burlingame Avenue, Burlingame, CA
October 26, 2018 - November 30, 2018

JOHNSTON'S SALTBOX
1696 Laurel Street, San Carlos, CA
2018 - 2020