Salvador Montó

"Manhattan II NYC"  acrylic on canvas  50 x 50cm

"NYC Brooklyn Bridge"  acrylic on canvas  50x 50cm

"NYC Rain"  acrylic on canvas  50 x 50cm

"Tanker Blue"  acrylic on canvas  120 x 180cm

"Museo MAXXI, Roma"  Acrylic on canvas  81 x 100cm

Salvador Montó is a Spanish painter whose work shows primarily in Europe even though one of his most frequent subject matters is New York City. The work is clearly derived from photographs and has a very graphic feel to it, though his rough textures and gestural brushwork offset the hard edged lines beautifully. He is a man clearly enthralled by cities and all the enormous mighty works of man. Most artists today treat urban subjects through the lens of catastrophe and decay, despite the fact that there is some evidence to suggest that cities represent the best hope for how we deal with our impact on the planet. That being said the artist in this instance is not addressing these issues at all. This work is simply about monumental man-made things and the drama of living in such artificial environments. Whether it is the skyscraper encrusted skyline of New York City, the interior of a modern museum or the lumbering hulk of an ocean liner, his paintings seem almost completely devoid of nature. The sky is just a pale patch to set off the concrete canyon walls and the sea is merely a band of steel grey-blue. These are worlds that man has made and can get lost within and I'm guessing that Salvador Montó loves it there.
You can see more at his website: www.salvadormonto-new.com
or if you prefer, you can browse through his work on his Flickr page

Here's a an interesting example of how certain images are revisited and even recombined in his work. The final synthesis in the third painting definitely improves upon the other two.

"Subway" acrylic on canvas  50 x 50cm