When the pandemic shuttered last year’s Spanish Market, santero Andrew Montoya posted the 31 pieces he’d carved online.
He sold out within an hour.
“St. Lucas and his Cruz to Chimayó,” by Andrew Montoya, 2018. (Courtesy of the artist)
“I tell people I’m not an artist; I’m a storyteller,” the multi award-winning carver said from his Albuquerque studio.
Montoya produces the tragic figures of Spanish Colonial art in vibrant hues extending well beyond the traditional primary color palette. He also sports a more whimsical side, creating images of Ruth Bader Ginsburg posing atop a law book, a St. Lucas piloting a low rider and a skeleton (muerte) popping out of a jack-in-the-box in “Death By Surprise.”
Santero Andrew Montoya
Tattoos ripple and vine down his arms, unspooling in symbols and signposts like the imagery he carves.
A skull twined in human hair marks the single most traumatic event in his life: the artist lost his mother when he was 11 years old. A latticework of ribbons and cherry blossoms tumble and braid, then land near her birthdate.
“That’s what I like to say was the start of my life,” he said.
“Fierce Strength,” by Andrew Montoya. (Courtesy of the artist)
Montoya grew up in Agua Fria surrounded by gangs, drugs and alcohol. But his aunt, the award-winning santera Arlene Cisneros Sena, taught him to paint each summer.
“She promised my mother she would keep me out of trouble,” he said. “I hated it. All my friends were outside, in the pool, playing ball.”
The first time Sena took him to Spanish Market, he was fascinated by an old man in a carving demonstration.
“One of the men was doing a saint on a horse,” Montoya said. “His name was Manuel Lopez. He was this very dark guy, very Spanish-looking. I ran to the bandstand and grabbed a folding chair and I watched him for three days. I had never seen somebody pull something out of wood.”
“Santa Rosa de Lima” by Andrew Montoya, 2020. (Courtesy of the artist)
At the time, Montoya didn’t even know how or where to find wood.
“I didn’t know where to get knives,” he added. “And I was scared to death of cutting myself.”
He began experimenting with cottonwood root.
“The first thing I made was a hand,” he said. “It was maybe a little bigger than a Barbie hand.”
He joined the Spanish Market artist development program and found a mentor. A carver named Jerome Lujan gave him a couple of knives.
By the time he reached 20, what had once been a distraction had ballooned into a passion. He began going to museums, researching everything from Guatemalan to Italian art. He bought books and attended lectures. He loved the precision and attention to detail of Asian art.
“Zozobra,” by Andrew Montoya, 2018. (Courtesy of the artist)
Painting came to him naturally after years in his aunt’s coerced summer school. But he was rejected by the adult market twice before finally gaining entry. Today he mixes his own natural pigments (from cochineal and ponderosa) with commercial watercolors.
“The difference was style,” he said. “I had been taught by my auntie to paint her way. I worked so hard; I tried to develop my own style. I was so very afraid of getting rejected again that I didn’t go outside my own comfort zone.”
“Death by Surprise Box,” by Andrew Montoya, 2019. (Courtesy of the artist)
Today that aesthetic reflects a deep Spanish Colonial influence with more than a touch of vibrancy.
“I don’t use the same palette; the painting colors,” he said. “I use pink. I use teal. I use fuchsia. A lot of people are afraid to push that envelope. I wanted it to still tell the story, but I wanted the colors to be different.”
Montoya then began incorporating current culture – be it issues of politics, race or education – into his work.
In 2011, he took a first place for a bulto of the classic Visitation scene featuring a visibly pregnant Mary.
“Sacred Heart,” by Andrew Montoya, 2020. (Courtesy of the artist)
But the awards came with professional jealousy. Many of his onetime friends shunned him. One even accused Montoya of copying his work.
“All I ever wanted to do was win awards,” he said. “All I wanted was to gain the respect of the community.”
He began bringing a younger approach to his work. His “Zozobra” began as a gift to his son. He carved a St. Francis soaring in a hot air balloon holding a rainbow sign. He carved a nurse wearing a mask with a COVID ball for a halo. It sold within six minutes.
Today he mentors his two nieces. He dreams of launching a foundation for at-risk children to express themselves in art.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg rests on top a law book in “Real Change,” by Andrew Montoya. (Courtesy of the artist)
If some hybrid of Spanish Market opens this summer, he’ll be at his table at 5:30 a.m. with 31 pieces, posting a list of buyer holds.
“I only allow people to buy one at a time,” he said, because “people would buy seven for their family.”
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Santero combines vibrant colors, social issues with traditional Spanish art - Albuquerque Journal
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