Culture & Community | Erector Square | Fair Haven | Arts & Culture | Visual Arts
Some of Jerry Montoya's post-it notes, on display at Color Local in Erector Square through April 24. Solé Scott Photos.
“Art is the only time I feel heard and seen,” the artist Jerry Montoya told me in a phone call last week.
On Peck Street, those words come vibrantly to life across the walls. On a turquoise post-it note, a figure looks up right out of the frame, his glasses in sharp, crisp detail as long, thick hair falls around his face and a beard covers his chin. In a butter-yellow one, rendered in color, the subject wears thick purple sunglasses, lips pursed beneath them as his cheeks fill the small space. Beneath it, a girl in a hoodie looks down at something a viewer can’t see, contemplative.
Montoya’s work sits on display at Color Local, a new gallery located in Building Three of Erector Square in New Haven’s Fair Haven neighborhood. The show, the first in the gallery’s history, showcases his detailed and extraordinary work on post-its and in sketch books; it runs through April 24.
The brainchild of Woodbridge resident Jenny Krauss, Color Local is located at 315 Peck St., Building 3, Studio D. Its hours are currently Tuesday through Thursday from 12-4 p.m. and by appointment. The best email address is info@colorlocal.net.
“This body of work, the post-it, [takes] about 15, 20, 30 minutes,” Montoya said in a recent phone call. A few years ago, he started making the post-it portraits as a way to prove to a colleague that he was also an artist. He hasn’t stopped since—as both the post-it notes and several sketchbooks in the gallery, most with tender portraits of his family, show in real time.
Part of that is the gallery itself, which is still very much a new addition to New Haven. As attendees make their way through Erector Square’s labyrinthine hallways and up its staircases, there’s a sense that this is a small pilgrimage. Inside Studio D, the white walls burst into color, thanks to 287 of Montoyo’s gem- and candy-toned sticky notes, all of them covered with portraits.
If a person looks closely at each one, Montoya’s attention to detail is exquisite: he has carefully rendered kinky hair, flowing bearsa, and flyaway curls, outstretched hands, pursed and smiling lips and full noses and cheekbones that pop in intricate detail. The post-it notes are not the only draw, in this regard: Montoya has also chosen to exhibit several of his sketchbooks, with a level of intimate detail that makes them feel like a gift and a secret all at the same time.
The notes meanwhile, keep a viewer coming back. Take, for instance, a portrait of James Baldwin, depicted in profile and sitting still. As he explained, Montoya created the work while watching the documentary I Am Not Your Negro, based on Baldwin’s unfinished book, Remember This House. The film, directed by Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck, examines the premature killings—and the legacies—of Civil Rights leaders Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Montoya has given him the same kind of close attention and deep, almost reverent respect as the film: Baldwin's post-it note is one of the few artworks that is painted. Chocolate and black tones fill in his skin and hair as he looks off to the side with his mouth open mid sentence.
Krauss, the owner and founder of Color Local, said she’s interested in using the space to exhibit artists whose work is not widely known yet. In January, she founded the gallery after years running a textile company that employs artisans in South America to hand-embroider belts, the sales from which go back to the artists. When she started building the idea of Color Local, working with Montoya felt like a good place to start.
“I don't want to go see something that I have seen a hundred times, I want unusual things,” she said. In Montoya’s work, she’s found the quintessential example of that: the exhibit invites attendees to study each and every sticky note plastered on the bright white walls. In addition, Montoya has a number of sketchbooks filled with vibrant and lifelike drawings, often of his family.
“There are 287 post-it notes on the wall plus these sketchbooks,” Krauss said. “He generally draws every day, and he has been doing it for years.”
If the exhibition is any indication, Montoya’s creativity is always on the go. A viewer can see that through his notebooks, carefully placed on the table in the middle of the second room.
Rough portraits of himself, his children, and his wife are all scribbled in pencil. Sometimes, he also self-reflects, like in a self-portrait seated on a couch, wearing glasses, shorts and a Philadelphia Phillies t-shirt. His focus, including a realistic indent on his forehead, is astonishing.
“Now my family. I’m searching for the perfect depiction of them and what they mean to me,” he said. “Love is just the word, but it doesn't express how I feel for them.”
In his career so far, Montoya has done over 16 shows. In the gallery, much of his work is for sale, with a starting point of $75. His paintings are $100.
“I love the attention my art is getting,” Montoya said. “Art is meant to be seen and enjoyed.”
“I hope they [viewers] can just appreciate how remarkable these are and how professional they are, and how emotional they are,” Krauss said.
Montoya’s exhibit opened on March 20 and closes on April 24. There will be another solo artist on display in May that will be advertised at a later time.
“I think this one is really special, and I am trying to line up artists of a very high caliber just because I am picky,” Krauss said.
What Montoya hopes every visitor leaves with is inspiration for themselves.
“Never stop creating, keep searching,” he said.
Color Local is located at 315 Peck St., Building 3, Studio D. Its hours are currently Tuesday through Thursday from 12-4 p.m. and by appointment. The best email address is info@colorlocal.net.