Los Angeles based artist, Daniel Monteavaro aka "Moncho 1929" has painted murals across the United States and has even been featured on the main page of Artsy for Miami Art Basel. Originally from New York City, Moncho grew up in the South Bronx during the 1980's and was inspired by all the urban art popping up at the time. Incorporating a street art/graffiti aesthetic into his style, Moncho 1929's vibrant work has caught the eye of many that his artwork has been sold alongside the likes of Shepard Fairey, Swoon and Patrick Martinez at auction. Moncho 1929 has painted murals for big movie studios and even Google, so he decided to participate in the Talenthouse Moxy Atlanta Midtown Creative Invite. The brief called for artists across the United States to design a mural for the Moxy Atlanta Midtown hotel and Moncho 1929's design was chosen from all the amazing submissions. His selected piece showcased vibrant colors, sharp geometric shapes, patterns and liveliness that played into Moxy's fun atmosphere. With the production budget he received for becoming a Selected Creator, Moncho 1929 flew over to Atlanta and painted the mural at the Moxy Atlanta Midtown hotel himself. The mural can now be seen by the thousands that visit the hotel and use the passageway for Atlanta's Art Walk. We caught up with the talented artist to ask him about his creative process, future projects and about his mural at the Moxy Atlanta Midtown.
TH: How did you get the nickname Moncho?
DM: Moncho is my grandfather’s nickname and after he passed, I continued using his name as a way of keeping him around me and in a way, having him enjoy the works he never had a chance to.
TH: What is your creative process like?
DM: My murals are planned out to an extent, but they take shape and form on the wall as it goes. To me it becomes more organic and really becomes part of the environment where it lives.
Google Headquarters, Playa Vista, CA
TH: How did you feel when you found out you were selected and flown to Atlanta to paint the mural at the Moxy Midtown Hotel?
DM: I was very excited to visit Atlanta and share my work with the city and visitors.
TH: What was the inspiration behind your mural for Moxy Atlanta Midtown?
DM: My goal was to create a work that expressed energy and spoke to everyone that interacted with it. Part of public works are the discovery and to walk around a corner and travel down a staircase experiencing the work and the discovery of it becomes something special.
TH: What is the most difficult/unexpected part of painting a mural?
DM: Weather is always number 1. And 2. And 3.
TH: What 5 words would you use to describe your style?
DM: Universal, organic, evolving, colorful and connecting.
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Co. Los Angeles, CA
TH: If you could have an hour to talk with anyone from the past, who would that be?
DM: Probably myself as it’s taken me about 45 minutes already to even try and narrow down who I’d ask.
TH: Can you tell us a bit about your "Chimera" series? Do you have a favorite?
DM: The chimera works are very different from the public works, and that relies heavily on the narrative. For public works, they become a part of everyone’s daily routine and travel and the narrative is a bit less involved as it’s more of how the work communicates with the environment.
With the Chimera works, I can focus much more on the narrative of each work alone and a bit more intimately. My favorite is the one is always the one I’m currently working on.
TH: Do you have any advice for young artists starting out?
DM: Everyone’s metric for success is vastly different, and as an artist you’ll always be evolving.
TH: Do you have any projects you are currently working on or upcoming we should look out for?
DM: Still exploring the Chimera series and experimenting with very small runs of serigraph prints so I’m looking forward to a little studio time this month.
I’ll be in Brooklyn with Saatchi in November and one of my works was acquired and just hung at The Davenport Museum of Art (The Figge) this month so I’ll be headed there as well at some point.
To find out more about Daniel Monteavaro aka Moncho, check out him out on Instagram, Talenthouse and website.
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