Malaquías Montoya
Malaquias Montoya is a pioneering figure in contemporary American graphic arts, recognized for his powerful poster work addressing civil rights, immigration, labor justice, and anti-war movements. Born in 1938 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after serving in the U.S. Marines, Montoya attended the University of California, Berkeley through the G.I. Bill, graduating in 1969.
In 1968, Montoya founded the Mexican-American Liberation Art Front, establishing one of the most influential artist collectives to emerge from the Chicano Movement. He became a leading figure in the social serigraphy movement in the San Francisco Bay Area during the mid-1960s, producing bold political posters that addressed farmworker exploitation, police brutality, educational inequality and undocumented immigrant rights. His activism was deeply rooted in his involvement with the Mexican American Student Confederation (MASC) and the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) at Berkeley, where he learned the power of coalition politics and merged aesthetics with activism. Throughout his career, Montoya has deliberately bypassed commercial galleries, displaying his posters on utility poles and building facades to reach marginalized communities directly.
Since 1989, Montoya has held a professorship at the University of California, Davis, teaching across the Department of Art and the Department of Chicana/o Studies, where he became Professor Emeritus in 2008. He has also taught at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, California College of Arts and Crafts, University of Notre Dame, and University of Texas, San Antonio. In 1997, he received both the Adaline Kent Award from the San Francisco Art Institute and the Art as a Hammer Honor from the Center for the Study of Political Graphics in Los Angeles, followed by Special Congressional Recognition by Congressman Mike Thompson in 2005. In 2023, two simultaneous retrospectives honored his legacy: "Malaquías Montoya and the Legacies of a Printed Resistance" at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis and "Por el Pueblo: The Legacy and Influence of Malaquías Montoya" at the Oakland Museum of California. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago.
In 1968, Montoya founded the Mexican-American Liberation Art Front, establishing one of the most influential artist collectives to emerge from the Chicano Movement. He became a leading figure in the social serigraphy movement in the San Francisco Bay Area during the mid-1960s, producing bold political posters that addressed farmworker exploitation, police brutality, educational inequality and undocumented immigrant rights. His activism was deeply rooted in his involvement with the Mexican American Student Confederation (MASC) and the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) at Berkeley, where he learned the power of coalition politics and merged aesthetics with activism. Throughout his career, Montoya has deliberately bypassed commercial galleries, displaying his posters on utility poles and building facades to reach marginalized communities directly.
Since 1989, Montoya has held a professorship at the University of California, Davis, teaching across the Department of Art and the Department of Chicana/o Studies, where he became Professor Emeritus in 2008. He has also taught at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, California College of Arts and Crafts, University of Notre Dame, and University of Texas, San Antonio. In 1997, he received both the Adaline Kent Award from the San Francisco Art Institute and the Art as a Hammer Honor from the Center for the Study of Political Graphics in Los Angeles, followed by Special Congressional Recognition by Congressman Mike Thompson in 2005. In 2023, two simultaneous retrospectives honored his legacy: "Malaquías Montoya and the Legacies of a Printed Resistance" at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis and "Por el Pueblo: The Legacy and Influence of Malaquías Montoya" at the Oakland Museum of California. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago.
Former judges
Antanas Sutkus
Duane Michals
Edward Fella
Fritz Gottschalk
Gerald Scarfe
Graciela Iturbide
Guy Billout
Henry Steiner
Maciej Hibner
Nobuyoshi Araki
Rosmarie Tissi
Seymour Chwast
Tom Geismar
William Klein
Duane Michals
Edward Fella
Fritz Gottschalk
Gerald Scarfe
Graciela Iturbide
Guy Billout
Henry Steiner
Maciej Hibner
Nobuyoshi Araki
Rosmarie Tissi
Seymour Chwast
Tom Geismar
William Klein