Malaquias Montoya and the Premeditation of Capital Punishment

This is a response to Paul's Post about Malaquias Montoya.

What strikes you about this art of protest?

The first thing that I noticed about the art was how dark, macabre, and depressing it was. Montoya took a all out approach with his art, holding nothing about these executions back. The images in the gallery were very grotesque, and they elicited strong feelings of sadness, disgust, and fear. I just took away a negative feel from this art.

Do you think anything will come of it?

I think that it’s possible that someone might protest or write a letter, but that only through constant preaching or sending of a message will really make a difference. It’s easy to walk out of an art gallery and say, “Oh my god that was horrible. Good thing I don’t have to think about that again.” I think that only people who are already activists about this cause will really do anything. The art is still powerful nonetheless.

Are the artist's positions valid, or has he failed to consider other factors about society?

For me personally, this artist positions are very valid. I do not believe in capital punishment, and so these images did not elicit a very strong negative response from me. I think that all of these paintings were very valid in their argument, especially the lynching and mentally ill artwork. To someone who is for capital punishment, however, these artworks may be leaving out the other side of the issue, which is what the criminal did to deserve such a punishment.