MONTAÑEZ ORTIZ, Raphael; RIVERO RAMOS, Javier (ed.)
RMO Raphael Montañez Ortiz

The first monograph of the preeminent Nuyorican artist and founder of El Museo del Barrio, Raphael Montañez Ortiz. The monograph seeks to redress the scarcity of bibliographical resources dedicated to the life and work of an artist who early on committed himself to push and exceed disciplinary boundaries. Sailing through the wake of abstract expressionism into recycled cinema and afterwards into object-oriented and performance-based destructivist art, Raphael Montañez Ortiz has spent more than six decades at the forefront of American postwar art.

Raphael Montañez Ortiz is a central figure in U.S. Post-war art, whose pioneering practice began with trail-blazing experimental film works in 1957. In the 1960s, he was a key figure in the international Destruction Art movement, with performative actions that would result in powerful sculptures made from destroyed objects. His practice expands art historical references, from U.S. Abstract Expressionism and Dada to identity and his upbringing in a Puerto Rican family in New York. At the same time, his work was informed by an ongoing interest in psychoanalysis and anthropology, which resulted in his exploration of shamanic practices and the therapeutic and healing potential of art, parallel to his research into pre-Hispanic cultures. This is a constant concern that runs from the early destruction pieces such as the Archaeological Finds to his later performative actions and works addressing the Indigenous cultures of the Americas. He was also an important figure in alternative art practices in the 1960s and 70s: he participated in the foundation of El Museo del Barrio and engaged with other groups at the time, such as the Art Workers Coalition, the Guerrilla Art Action Group, the Taller Boricua, and the Judson Gallery. [publishers’ note]

Texts by Javier Rivero Ramos, Patrick Charpenel, Kevin Hatch, Chon A. Noriega, Ana Perry. Interview by Pedro Reyes.

Bilingual English / Spanish.

Published by RM publishers, 2023
Monographs / Scenes