Born in Bogotá in 1974, Colombian artist Santiago Montoya has been creating art for as long as he can remember. He began painting at the age of eight. By age ten, he was taking lessons with a local artist. Then, after a year of mandatory military service, he pursued formal training in Fine Arts at the Universidad de los Andes.
Though classically trained as a painter, the artist now follows a multidisciplinary approach that also embraces found objects and video documentary. Since 2007, he has adopted paper currency as his medium of choice, transforming banknotes from around the world into intricate patterns, provocative text, and monumental structures. His work generates a discourse on nationalism, commodities and the universal consequences and nuances of the production and distribution of wealth.
Montoya explains: ‘At one point, I decided I wanted to paint because it was the biggest challenge I thought I could face. Eventually, after over a decade of exploration to find a formal structure for my art, I came across the idea of using money to paint.
Now living and working between Miami and his native Bogotá, Montoya views banknotes as “small paintings that dispense a message,” offering both a snapshot in time and raising questions about the value of art. His practice combines a wry humour and acute insight into the inherent systems and structures that we live by, saying, ‘humor is part of the bait because, well, I guess everybody likes to have a laugh, but then when you understand that you’re laughing at something serious, the bottom of it is not funny at all’.
Montoya’s use of banknotes draws attention to their paradoxical nature–they are simultaneously objects of desire, power and control, and in a globalised world, increasingly abstract representations of value. By decontextualising currency, he invites the viewer to question their assumptions about worth. While paper currency has economic value, Montoya is far more interested in examining the value beyond its surface; a value which often goes unseen, and changes radically across borders and time.
As a child, Montoya knew of labourers meticulously panning for gold in the rivers near his home, in part making gold a deeply personal material for the artist. Evident in GOLDEN FOREVER FOREVER, a work which incorporates the ubiquitous one-dollar bill, the lowest denomination of US paper currency, juxtaposed with 24k gold leaf. In stripping banknotes of their primary function, Montoya critiques the wealth and riches of countries, commenting on the fragility and futility of currency when manipulated.
Montoya has exhibited extensively across South America, Europe, and the United States. His works are held in several international public and private collections including the Embassy of Colombia in London, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Massachusetts, Dell Children’s Medical Centre, Austin, Art Museum of the Americas, Washington D.C, Jill & Peter Kraus, and Estrellita & Daniel Brodsky, amongst others.
Montoya is currently featured alongside other artists in the Summer Exhibition at Halcyon, which explores colour and its perception – both on the surface and beneath. The artworks presented consider colour as both substance and symbol, revealing a spectrum of materials and meanings.
Summer Exhibition is now on view at Halcyon’s 148 and 29 New Bond Street galleries until 31st August 2025.