“I paint as a way of discovering stories hidden within myself, peeling away layers, digging deeper each time, revealing images of forgotten stories.� -
Roberto Gil de Montes
Henry Moore, 2014, oil on linen, 75 x 98-1/2�
Taxi Drivers, 2012, oil on linen, 27-15/16 x 35-15/16�
Coming Home, 2014, oil on linen, 75 x 98-1/2�
Island, 2013, pastel on paper, 24-1/2 x 30-3/8� - fr
Monster Wins, 2014, oil on canvas, 31-1/2 x 47-1/4�
Father’s Day Flowers, 2014, oil on canvas, 24 x 24”
Yo Cora, 2013, oil on canvas, 24-1/2 x 30-3/8� - fr
Facebook Photo (woman), 2013, pastel on paper, 24-1/2 x 30-1/8� - fr
Friends, 2013, pastel on paper, 24-1/2 x 30-3/8� - fr
Angel y Paloma, 2013, pastel on paper, 24-1/2 x 30-1/4� - fr
Facebook Photo (men), 2013, pastel on paper, 24-1/2 x 30-1/2� - fr
Untitled (boy on phone), 2014, oil on canvas, 15-7/8 x 20�
Dia de la Virgen, 2013, pastel on paper, 24-1/2 x 30-3/8� - fr
Turtle Release, oil on canvas, 31-7/16 x 47-1/4�
Victor’s Dream, 2013, pastel on paper, 24-9/16 x 30-7/16” - fr
Wixáritari, 2014, oil on canvas, 16 x 20”
Boy, 2012, oil on linen, 23-5/8 x 31-3/8�
Chac Mool, 2014, oil on canvas, 15-5/8 x 19-3/4�
Periwinkle, 2013, oil on canvas, 13-7/8 x 12�
The Dream, 2013, oil on linen, 23-5/8 x 39-1/2�
The New Calendar, 2014, oil on linen, 55-1/4 x 47-1/4�
Cuervos de Verano, 2014, oil on linen, 23-5/8 x 39-1/2�
Dream 2, 2013, pastel on paper, 24-1/2 x 30-3/8” – fr.
Lora Schlesinger Gallery 2525 Michigan Avenue, T3 Santa Monica, CA 90404 (310) 828-1133 FAX (310) 828-4344
ROBERTO GIL DE MONTES
ROBERTO GIL DE MONTES was born and raised in Guadalajara where the Orozco murals and day of the death celebrations were a big influence. In 1958 he wanted to be a song writer but decided to be an artist. After seeing a documentary on Henry Moore he switched careers. In 1965 he moved to Los Angeles as a teenager. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Masters of Fine Arts from the Otis Art Institute, in Los Angeles. Among many other solo and group exhibitions, Gil de Montes was included in the prestigious Hispanic Art in the US: Thirty Contemporary Painters and Sculptors which toured the country . Le Demon des Anges, (The Demon Angeles) which toured Europe, His work is included in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Phoenix Museum, The Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. His work is also in major corporate collections Pall Mall, Delloite and Touche, The Gas Company of Los Angeles, ATT, Hallmark, New York, Eli Broad, the Pellizi collection and Art in Embassys Program, Mexican Government purchase. He was represented by the Jan Baum Gallery in Los Angeles for 25 years. Many themes are found in Gil de Montes’ work—his Mexican origins, his life in Echo Park, Mexican popular art, the tradition of retablos and ex-voto paintings, and the unexpected. His public art commissions include a tile fountain at Metro’s Gateway Transit Center, The Metro Blue Line, Spring Station entrance in Downtown Los Angeles. He has traveled throughout India, Latin America, and Europe. He lives with his partner Eddie Dominguez, his dog Angel, cats; Juanita and Alejandro Magno, in Los Angeles and La Peñita de Jaltemba, Mexico.
ROBERTO GIL DE MONTES 1950
Guadalajara, Mexico
1972 1976
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Otis Parsons Art Insitute, Los Angeles Master of Fine Arts, Otis Parsons Art Insitute, Los Angeles
Solo Exhibitions: 2014 2000 1994 1991
1990 1989 1987 1985
Hecho en Mexico, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA New Paintings and Works on Paper, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Haus der Kutluren, Berlin, Germany Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Ni Aqui, Ni Alla, Junior Rts Cetner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Municipal Art Gallery, Junior Arts Center Gallery, Barnsdall Art Park, Los Angeles, CA Carla Stellweg Latin American and Contemporary Art, New York, NY Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Winston Gallery, Washington, D. C. Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Commissions: 1991
Three Murals, Los Angeles County Transporation Commission, Metro Rail, 7th and Hope Street Entrance
Group Exhibitions: 2013 2010 2001 2001 2000 1998 1997 1994 1993
MEX/LA: Mexican Modernisms in Los Angeles 1930-1985, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA Small Works Group Show, Lora Schlesinger Gallery, Santa Monica, CA Representing L.A., Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA Arte Latino: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. Sassy Sexy Sweet Sordid Surreal, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Facing the Millenium: Portraits and Self Portraits, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Precious, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Remembrance of Exhibitions Past: 20th Anniversary Celebration, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA The Sacred and the Profane, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA School Days, Selected Alumni & Faculty, Otis Art Institute, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Fusion ’93, Pauline Hirsh Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Crowning Achievements, The San Francisco Airport, San Francisco, CA Celebracion Hispanica, Didactic Gallery, Frito-Lay Inc., Plano, TX
Le Demon des Anges, Centre D’art Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain 1989 Gallery Artists, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 87-89 Hispanic Art in the United States: Thrity Contemporary Painters and Sculptors, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D. C.; Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL; Museum of Fine Arts, New Mexico,NM; Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM; Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, MX; Los Angeles, County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, NY 1988 Curious Presence, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Gallery Artists, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 10 Latin Artists, Jack Tilton Gallery, New York, NY Hispanic Show, Marilyn Butler Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, NM Mira, The Canadian Club Hispanic Art Tour II, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA 1987 Gallery Artists, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angels, CA Small Works, Jose Drudis-Biada Art Gallery, Moun St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles, CA Landscape Elements, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA People, Places and Things, Gwydion Gallery, San Diego, CA 1986 Gallery Gala in Celebration of the Opening of the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Robert O. Anderson Building of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Pierce College Gallery, Woodland Hills, CA 1985 Consejo Mexicano de Fotographia (CMF), Mexico City, MX The Spiritual Eye, Loyola Law School Gallery, Lo Angeles, CA Landscape Now, Mandeville Glalery, University of California, San Diego, CA 1984 Small Wonder, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA New Forms of Figuration, sponsored by the Center for International Aqui, Fisher Gallery, Los Angeles, CA The Finals in Painting and Sculpture, Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA A Broad Spectrum, Design Center of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA Artists Select Artists, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles 1st Biennial Latinoamericano, Havana, Cuba 1983 L.A. as Content, Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies, Los Angeles, CA Re-Construct L.A., Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Junior Arts Center, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA 1981 Interiores, Galeria Collage, Monterey, MX Hecho en American Latino, Museum of Fine Arts, Mexico City, MX The Last Chicano Art Show, Galeria, Santa Ana, CA 1980 Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA 1979 No Movie, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA 1977 Public Works, California State University, Los Angeles, CA Schizo, Mexicano Art Center, Los Angeles, CA Awards: Getty Grant 1997
Bibliography: Surrealism is Alive and Well in Roberto Gil de Montes Dreamy Depictions, Priscilla Frank, Huffington Post, April 5, 2014 Artist Roberto Gil de Montes: Mexican –U.S.Culture Has No Border, Deborah Vankin Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2014 A Symbol Becomes A Sign, Micheal Aushenker, Argonaut News, April 2, 2014 Editorial Highlights: Roberto Gil de Montes, A. Moret, Visual Art Source, April 2014 Mex-LA, Mexican Modernisms in Los Angeles, 1930-1985, Hatje-Cantz, p. 174-175 Arte Latino, Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Jonathan Yorba, 2001 p. 40-41 David Pagel, Los Angeles Times, April 7, 2000 p.F32 Carmine Iannaccone , Art Issues, January / Februaru 1997, p. 42 Gil de Montes’ New Works Show a Mastery of Scale, Los Angeles Times, October 5, 1996 p. F18 Margarita Nieto, ArtScene, September 1996, p. 13 Edward Lucie-Smith, Art Today, Phaidon, London, 1995 Death’s Broad Domain: Robero Gil de Montes at the L.A. Junior Arts Center Gallery, Diane Mark-Walker, Artweek, October 1991, Vol. 22 #24 Editorial Highlight, Jody Zellen, ArtScene, October 1991 Rick Barnett, Visions Art Quarterly, 1990 Rage of Angels, Diana Chavez-Martinez, Hispanic, September 1989, 9. 18-19 Roberto Gil de Montes Art Through Revelation, Santa Monica News, February 16, 1989 Hispanic Art: A Los Angeles, Renaissance, Sunset, February 1989, p 14-16 Stepping Into the Mainstream: The Latin American Art Market, Carla Stellweg, Latin American Art, Spring, 1989, p. 29-34 Less Than Meets the Eye, Peter Frank, L.A. Weekly, March 17 – 23, 1989, p. 22 – 24 Missing, Shifra M. Goldman, L.A. Weekly, March 17, 1989, p. 23 Hispanic Art Weekend in Santa Fe, Art-Talk, June – July, 1988, p. 15 The Hunt for Hispanic Treasures, John Beardsley, Museum & Arts Washington, September – October 1987, p. 50-53 Devotees of the Fantastic, Mark Stevens, Newsweek, September 7, 1987 p. 66-68 Leah Goldman, Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1987, Part IV, p. 20 Suzanne Muchnic, Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1987, Part VI, p. 17 Vibrant Hispanic Art Captured in MFA Exhibit, Patricia C. Johnson, Houston Chronicle, May 2, 1987, Section 3, p.1 Suzanne Muchnic, Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1987, Part IV, P. 17 Art With a Chicano Accent, Linda Burnham &Steven Durland, High Performance, Issue 35, 1986, p. 50 Painting From Under the Volcano, Susana Torruella, Artnewsk, march 1985, p. 141 New York Times, January 4, 1985 Latino Works Escapes Ethnicity, Suzanne Muchnic, Los Angeles Times, November 12, 1984 Images and Issues, August 1984 Impression, July 1984 Artweek, June 2, 1983 Artes Visuales, Issue # 29, 1981 Artes Visuales, Issue # 27, 1980 Artweek, April 1979