hello //

Ivan Montoya (b. Chihuahua, Mexico, 1995) is a Detroit-based painter and muralist. As a first-generation immigrant, he uses motifs from the natural world and mesoamerican folklore to visually represent his experience of existing between cultures. 

“I create paintings that express the Mexican diaspora through folkloric symbolism. I use bold color, dynamic lighting, and old word visual motifs to turn allegorical figures into representations of immigrants and their experiences. I am interested in what happens when cultural heritage intersects with external pressures of assimilation. My work explores the resulting spark of identity that comes from this friction and what happens when we are forced to change. Why do we choose to let go of certain cultural traits but hold onto others? What stories do we tell ourselves to stay connected to a world that we no longer belong to? I am drawn to the ethereal in-between space between two cultures that is navigated by many but represented by few.”

Ivan earned his BFA from the College for Creative Studies in 2017 and received the Imre J. Molnar Artistic Achievement Award, appointing him as merit-based valedictorian. Following graduation, he attended the Illustration Academy in Kansas City, MO. Since then, Ivan has worked as a freelance illustrator, artist and muralist, partnering with clients including The Platform, Rocket Central, Mckinsey & Co, 1x Run, and City of Detroit. Ivan has been featured by Spectrum, 3x3 Mag and The Society of Illustrators, and has work in the Guillermo Del Toro Bleak House Collection.

 

EDUCATION // 

  • College for Creative Studies, BFA in Illustration. Detroit, Michigan. 

  • Illustration Academy 2017, Kansas City, Missouri.

EXHIBITIONS //

  • Neon Beige, Duo Show w/ Joey Salamon | 2024 | ArtClvb | Detroit, MI

  • Detroit <> Toyko Group Exhibition | 2024 | ArtClvb | Toyko, Japan

  • Sonde{a}r Solo Show | 2024 | M Contemporary | Ferndale, Michigan

  • Kresge Foundation Headquarters Biennial Exhibition | 2024-2025 | Detroit, MI

  • Back in Five, Duo Show w/ Michael Polakowski | 2023 | 5-50 Gallery | New York, NY

  • Semillas, Solo Show | 2022 | Playground Detroit | Detroit, Michigan

  • Alegoría, Solo Show | 2021 | KO Studio Gallery | Hamtramck, Detroit, MI

  • Art Mile Group Show | 2020 | KO Studio Gallery | Hamtramck, Detroit, MI

  • Murals in the Market Exhibition | 2019 | Eastern Market | Detroit, MI

  • Memoria, Solo Show | 2018 | The Fisher Building | Detroit, MI

  • Member Group Show | 2018 | Whitdel Arts | Detroit, MI

  • "Illustration West 55" | 2017 | Society of Illustrators | Los Angeles, CA

  • "Student Scholarship 2017" | Society of Illustrators | New York, NY

PUBLISHING //

  • New American Painting Midwest 2023

  • Ivan Montoya @ PLAYGROUND Detroit, Detroit Art Review, 2022.

  • SEEN Magazine, July Wine and Art issue, 2022.

  • SPECTRUM 26, Flesk Publications. 2019.

  • 3x3 MAG Honorable mention, Unpublished Category. 2019.

  • The Thing Artbook, Printed in Blood Publishing. 2017.

HONORS //

  • Guillermo Del Toro Bleak House Collection.

  • 2nd Annual Binational Artists Conference Invitee 2021, Secretary of Exterior Relations, Mexico City.

  • Imre J. Mulnar Scholarship, College for Creative Studies.