Hokol Vuh Aké

Ixrael Montes

This collection is a selection of Ixrael Montes’ most visually and mentally stimulating pieces. The setting we have selected to showcase them, Hokol Vuh, in the coast of Merida mingles perfect with the motifs of the Oaxacan artist. The jungle, the animals, lizards and mythology interact in a human environment.

“The inspiration is subjective and almost unearthly, however, the motivation comes from different elements in a permanent search…”

Ixrael Montes is a visual artist and his work has been exhibited in both individual and collective exhibitions among Mexico and other countries. ‘Inspiration is subjective and almost implausible,’ says the artist when referring to the origin of his works.

Ixrael Montes was born in a small community of the Costa Chica, in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 1971. He spent his childhood enjoying the peculiar vegetation of his hometown and grew among cows, herons, iguanas and dogs. In 1991, when he was 19, he moved to Oaxaca City to study visual arts at Escuela de Bellas Artes de la UABJO, where he met a teacher that would become a great influence in his art and life, master Takeda. He has devoted 20 years to painting. His work references everyday scenes that generally go unnoticed by most, and has hints of irony that play with the leading roles of the characters and elements he uses in his fabrics. Montes constantly resorts to images of animals and landscapes reminiscent of his childhood.

After 18 years of uninterrupted painting, Ixrael Montes’ work has constantly evolved, from figurative and magical to abstraction and lately, to a fusion of the two genres.

Throughout his path, he has experimented with different techniques and materials. His painting is a little graphic and contrasted with a very ironic theme, and influenced by Africanized coastal masks.

He believes that his subject alludes to everyday scenes that usually pass unnoticed ‘tinged somewhat ironic to pay the role of the character and element that I use in my paintings.’

Ixrael Montes

Laguna de Chacahua

Mixed media on canvas, 24×49 cm.

Ixrael Montes

Nido

Bronze Sculpture, 35 x 30 x 15 cm.