I don’t remember when I first met Montoto, but by the time I began to associate with the art world, he was already well-established. It’s been over 25 years now. I later designed several catalogs for him and got to know him personally. At that time, he often worked with art critic Rufo Caballero, who unfortunately passed away at the peak of his career. Rufo told me that Montoto’s entire discourse was based on deep intellectual convictions and that I should not be swayed by appearances, that beyond his almost absolute mastery of technique, there were deep philosophical reflections layered underneath. On another occasion, I also discussed this with David Mateo, the editor of Art Crónica magazine, and also a critic and art curator based in Mexico. He agreed with Rufo that there was a complex theoretical background to Montoto’s seemingly tropical hedonism.
I then began to see his pieces in a new light. I don’t try to guess today what’s behind each piece. I’m content with gradually incorporating certainties, slowly, without any rush, about the meaning of his painting. All philosophy—without distinguishing between Eastern and Western—is based on the observation of how the universal subject tends to complicate the elemental essences of existence. And in the foundation of such a study, it begins to entangle itself so much that it passes easily over the subject and ends up getting tangled up and tripping over its own feet. Perhaps Montoto’s work is an attempt to put a brake on that frenzy, and from compositions and discourse structures that are seemingly simple, to return to the basal moment where complementary realities coexist in perfect balance. All it takes is to pull on one thread to start tangling everything up. This is when the complications of existence start. His pieces, at least to me, are a warning of the danger of losing the center and losing sight of the meaning of ‘the thing.’
Jorge Rodríguez Diez | R10 Director
Manuscrito en una botella. Arturo Montoto | 3
Justice, 2022 Oil on Canvas, 57¾ x 65¾ inches
The work And the night accumulates, which is exhibited in this exhibition, was part of the Expo “The painting lesson” at the National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana, 2004; and at the Museum of America in Madrid, 2005.
And the night accumulates, 2004 Oil on Canvas, 80¾ x 94½ inches
“(...) The visual image of the Cuban has been invaded by deceptive, perhaps appetizing, but intriguingly colored fruits; by everyday, many of them mundane, objects, always deteriorated by the patina of time; by books and knives, placed in difficult positions and all located - fruits, objects, knives, and books - in urban corners that exude mystery and suggestions, thanks to the depth obtained through an unfathomable darkness in which something, currently invisible, but sensed as threatening and unsettling, is hidden (...)
The stage for all these paintings is the city. A city of cracks, chiaroscuro, closed doors, stairs with no beginning or end, in which the human figure appears only in shadows or through the objects it creates and accompanies in everyday life. But the dramatic, almost alarming aspect printed on the canvases is the feeling of loneliness, helplessness, contained aggression and unstoppable deterioration that assaults us from each piece.
I think that Montoto’s detailed and accurate workmanship reaches heights here with which the artist surpassed himself. But more than a technical feat, the exhibition is the reflection of a state of mind, of a relationship with a context with which Montoto painfully dialogues: because there is no distance or strangeness between the painter and the reflected world, but participation, a sense of belonging, and a patent dose of anxiety. Montoto’s art then becomes a silent cry, a lament for dehumanization and abandonment, and a testimony of a complex and difficult time of which the artist, more than a witness or intermediary, is a visceral participant (...)
Leonardo Padura. Title: The Montoto year (fragment); Words for the catalog of the exhibition “The painting lesson” held at the MNBA in 2004; Published by Ediciones IPS, <Between two centuries> book of essays, author: Leonardo Padura, year 2006.”
Montoto places a shiny tomato on the base of a somewhat weather-worn building. Its red gleams, it is surely soft to the touch and the sight glides over its curvy shapes. The architectural sections, on the other hand, are rough and reject the temptation of a delicate touch on their surface. Light is also of capital importance; it cuts visible things into segments and, like the fruit, is worked with a technique similar to that advocated by the hard-edge of certain foreign trends that I am observing here. There are, therefore, several realities, several realisms, jarring due to their rare conjunction: the tomato - which could also be a piece of bread, another vegetable, a piece of material -; the architecture in a significant fragment not only as a support and frame; the light that illuminates and becomes protagonist (...)
Manuscrito en una botella. Arturo Montoto | 5
Adelaida de Juan, *About Montoto and Realisms (fragment)
Manuscrito en una botella. Arturo Montoto | 7
Karakum, 2022
Oil on canvas, 47¼ x 47¼ inches
Olmeca Cabbage, 2022
Oil on canvas, 47¼ x 47¼ inches
Saturn, 2022
Oil on canvas, 47¼ x 47¼ inches
ARTURO MONTOTO ECHEVARRÍA
Pinar del Río, Cuba, 1953
Pintor, dibujante, grabador, escultor, muralista y fotógrafo
Miembro de la Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba
Miembro del Taller Experimental de Gráfica de La Habana
Arturo Montoto Echevarría was born in Pinar del Río, Cuba in 1953. He is a painter, drawer, engraver, sculptor, muralist, and photographer. He is a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba and the Experimental Printmaking Workshop of Havana. He completed his initial studies at the Art School of Pinar del Río and continued at the National Art School in Havana. He entered the Superior Institute of Arts in Havana and later received a scholarship to study at the V.I. Súrikov Institute in Moscow, where he graduated with a Master of Fine Art in Mural Painting in 1984.
Throughout his professional career, he has had over 40 solo exhibitions and numerous group exhibitions in Cuba and other countries. He was invited to the 2005 and 2006 editions of the Latin American Painting and Sculpture Exhibition held at the Espacio Gallery in El Salvador alongside important Latin American artists. His work has been illustrated in and referenced in many books and magazines. It is also frequently included in important art events such as international fairs and auctions. He has published several texts and translations on art theory in magazines such as Dédalo and La Gaceta de Cuba. The written press, radio, and television frequently cover his artistic work through news, interviews, and reports. Radio and television programs in Cuba have dedicated space to reflect on his work, including Signos, La otra mirada, A capella, and Arte video. Filmmakers such as Roberto Chile, Yuder Laffita, and Frank Becerra have made shorts and documentaries about his work.
Arturo Montoto made his first sculptures in the summer of 2005 in Verona during his stay in Italy and linked up with the Filippini firm to create exclusive artist edition jewelry.
His work is part of the collections of the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, the Lowe Art Museum in Florida, the Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA) in Long Beach, California, the University of Virginia Museum, and the Vatican Museum in Rome, where his work "Aquí en la paz..." was received by Pope John Paul II in 1999.
He has given lectures on his work and reflections on art at institutes, academies, and universities in Cuba and abroad. He has been a member of the jury at important plastic arts salons and other events on contemporary Cuban art. In 2003, the editorial Letras Cubanas published the book Tántalo frente al estanque. La pintura de Arturo Montoto (Tantalus by the Pond. The Painting of Arturo Montoto) by art critic and theorist Rufo Caballero in its Cuban Artists collection. A historiographic book by art critic David Mateo is currently being prepared.
Montoto has received the Distinction for National Culture and the Diploma for Artistic Merit for the transcendence of his work, awarded by the Superior Institute of Art. He has also received the Award for Painting from the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, the Award for Mural Painting from the Provincial Union of Writers and Artists of Havana, and the Award for Drawing from the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba.
Constellation of the white roses, 2022 Oil on canvas, 47.25 x 59 inches
Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas
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