Filipino Canadian artist Bert Monterona is determined to document vanishing indigenous traditional art processes, and promote the use of indigenous art materials.
On Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Thursday Artist Talk speaker series at the Surrey Art Gallery, Laura Moodie will introduce the work of Vancouver-based Monterona, followed by a question and answer period with artist. Monterona became well known in his homeland for creating paintings with locally-made textile paint applied with different shapes of flat bamboo sticks on chipboard, a cheap and readily-available material. He also creates tapestry-like wall murals from dye, textile paint, and acrylic on canvas, giving these works the look and feel of hand woven cloth and artifacts from South East Asia's past. A selection of Monterona’s bamboo stick paintings and tapestry-like wall murals will be shown. Admission is free.
Monterona is an artist, educator and cultural worker who designs, illustrates, paints, sculpts and creates installations, sets and props for stage performances and TV shows. Born on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, he first exhibited in Canada at Simon Fraser University in 2004. Both nationally and internationally acclaimed, he has shown his artwork around the world, and is the recipient of accolades including most recently the 2009 Artist in Residence Program and Mural Project of the Leigh Square Community Arts Village (City of Port Coquitlam), and the 2007 Winner of the International Mural Festival and Competition in Manitoba. As an artist-educator, Monterona has organized art workshops in schools and communities around the world. His art-as-therapy and peace-building initiatives have been presented to art educators, social workers, street and underprivileged children and youth, artists, fine art students, and art enthusiasts. Monterona’s work can be viewed at www.bertmonterona.com
There will be time for questions and conversation during and following the talk. The event concludes by 9 p.m. Refreshments are provided. This event is presented by the Surrey Art Gallery Association in partnership with the Surrey Art Gallery, and with support from the Arts Council of Surrey.
Surrey Art Gallery Association (SAGA) is a non-profit society that offers its members the opportunity to participate in and respond to contemporary art, and be part of a community that actively supports the Surrey Art Gallery.
Surrey Art Gallery is located at 13750 88 Ave. Phone 604-501-5566 or check www.surrey.ca/arts for more information.