With thoughts of cyclical and infinite labyrinths from the stories of Jorge Luis Borges, I begin by bending tubes and arranging pieces on the floor. The sculptures emerge from memory once the draft of a geometric pattern has been envisioned.
One of my biggest influences is music. I am haunted by the sculptures of Bernini, I am intrigued by the Laocoon, and have looked closely at some paintings by Brice Marden and sketches by Frank Gehry. Don’t tell anyone but, my metallic tubing sculptures long to be trumpets or the structure of a squirrel’s nest, and they believe that they are spider webs that stitch wounds, or folded proteins, or low scale models of playgrounds …funny. On a pedestal or the floor, all the pieces stand at their most precarious position attempting to take off. Some prefer to hang from the ceiling quietly.
Interlocking dynamics drive the development of every piece. When I teach drawing, I prefer quick gesture exercises and the fluid narrative of perspective. Always in motion, the pieces gain impulse by continuously moving within the space that is prior to the development of a sentence. These sculptures are closer to the origins of a passing thought than to a coherent statement.
Luis Montalvo attended Fordham University where he earned his bachelors of arts degree in art history spending the junior year of studies in Paris with Columbia University. He earned his masters of architecture from Yale University in 1992. Upon receiving a Fulbright Scholarship and a Graham Foundation Grant, Luis transferred to Mexico to study interdisciplinary collaborations within the work of architect Luis Barragán.
Luis Montalvo has taught and lectured in art history as well as architectural theory and design since 1993. Luis is currently the Director of Media Arts at the Boston Architectural Center where he is responsible for curriculum development in the fields of drawing, photography, and media. His work is displayed at www.luismontalvo.com.
