\u201cI have been working a lot on my personal growth,\u201d Moncho said at the show\u2019s opening on May 23. \u201cWhen we go through processes in our life, your internal human process to become a better person, a lot of energy comes out. When that energy comes out, we see life.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Gallery Sonder presents \u201cMoncho: Awakening\u201d in Corona del Mar. <\/p>\n
(Sarah Mosqueda)<\/p>\n
Moncho, who has a studio in Costa Mesa, studied fine arts at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver and communications at Universidad Iberoamericana. A creative person with a love of animals, he thought he might become a veterinarian, but switched to the arts after one year of vet school. <\/p>\n
His work has been exhibited in Canada, Europe and Mexico and featured in Canadian Art magazine. He has even collaborated on a special commission with the Swiss watch company Swatch. <\/p>\n
\u201cAwakening\u201d is Moncho\u2019s first solo show in the U.S. however. It\u2019s a testament to Gallery Sonder founder Josh MacDonald\u2019s commitment to fostering relationships with new, innovative voices in art.<\/p>\n
Moncho works primarily in the areas of abstraction and subconscious figuration. \u201cAwakening\u201d is comprised of two series: ABC and XYZ.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have always worked in two styles. One is very geometric, hard-edged, with an internal and meditative process,\u201d Moncho said. \u201cThe other is very loose, energetic and joyful; a very free style.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cAwakening\u201d is an inaugural solo exhibition from Mexico City born artist, Moncho, at Gallery Sonder. <\/p>\n
(Sarah Mosqueda)<\/p>\n
The more structured ABC series is displayed on one side if the gallery, while the dreamy XYZ series occupies the other. They are two side of the same coin, or the same view from a different vantage point.<\/p>\n
Pieces from the ABC series can begin with a red underpainting, like \u201cUntitled ABC #4 (2025) with multifaceted, kaleidoscoping points that seem to expand and contract against the vivid red background. It is an expansive style that feels very much alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe when people see these paintings they see high vibrations,\u201d said Moncho.<\/p>\n
However, the artist is careful not to dictate too much what stories people might find in his work. Part of the joy of painting in the abstract is the unexpected discoveries it allows viewers to make.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are abstract, completely abstract, but people see things,\u201d said Moncho.<\/p>\n
In \u201cUntitled XYZ #6\u201d (2025), a deep blue work with ethereal forms floating throughout, the scene could easily be interpreted as birds in the sky or fish in the water.<\/p>\n
Moncho\u2019s process usually involves music and very little sketching. For the ABC series, the paintings feature a small shape, like a triangle or half-moon that multiplies like a cell, replicating itself infinitely. Work in the XYZ series is created in a equally organic manner.<\/p>\n
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Moncho\u2019s practice usings painting as a meditation on mapping, layering color and pattern. <\/p>\n
(Sarah Mosqueda)<\/p>\n
When the creative process is so fluid, its hard to know when it is over. Moncho said deciding when a painting is done is determined via intuition and sometimes the end of the canvas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t sketch. I never know what is going to happen,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s almost the same way when you are working on yourself, when you are discovering yourself, you don\u2019t know what is going happen.\u201d<\/p>\n