Santiago Montoya’s ‘Surfin’ USA’ Debuts in London
Photos courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
Contemporary Colombian artist Santiago Montoya has just opened Surfin’ USA, his exhibition at the Halcyon Gallery in London. Open to the public until February 12, 2017, this showcase highlights Montoya’s unique exploration into the cultural and political issues of the United States of America; here is a body of work filled with the artist’s signature pop art aesthetics and his favorite medium of choice – currency.
Throughout the gallery, Montoya’s meticulously orchestrated arrangements are abundant, bringing attention to the way he cuts, stretches and rolls the U.S. Dollar, the British Pound, and beyond, to even the far reaches of the Stock Exchange; all building onto his career-long visual dictionary where cash is both a canvas and a raw material – a platform to be altered, discussed and explored.
Onto his canvases he translates the vocabulary of Warhol and his own pop art aesthetics; out in full force at this exhibit are Mickey Mouse, The Velvet Underground and charts of the globe. These may be familiar images for us, but ones with which he has woven several subject matters, social-political issues and his vibrant sense of humor; something we’re rather hand-pressed to find in today’s political climate.