HIGHLIGHTS of 2020
• 93 paintings completed in 2020
• 42 paintings sold in 2020
• 4 exhibitions in 2020
• 1st solo show in 2020
• 90 paintings in solo exhibition
• 36 paintings sold in solo show
• 5 pieces accepted into juried shows
• 1 of 30 local artists featured on billboards across Atlanta and in the airport (2020-2021)
• 1st time featured in ARTSATL (on August 11, 2020)
• 1 video sharing artistic discovery
• 1 grant awarded
EXHIBITIONS
2020, Epiphany Art Gallery, Decatur, GA
2020, National Juried Art Show, Cultural Arts Council, Douglasville, GA
2020, ArtPop Street Gallery, Atlanta GA
2020, M2R Fence Gallery, Marietta, GA
2001, Muestra Pictorica Familiar, Galeria Illescas, Cuenca, Ecuador
GRANTS
2020, The Judith Alexander Foundation Relief Fund for Georgia Visual Artists
A B O U T C R I S T I N A M O N T E S I N O S
“After 25 years in the graphic design business I’m branching out and also working as an abstract painter. I’m doing both at the same time now, and I’m loving it! Fine art feeds my soul and creativity while graphic design feeds my precise, meticulous nature.”
Cristina lives at the harmonious confluence of many streams. Drawing on a deep and wide family artistic tradition, embracing her love of the natural world, accepting her quiet and observational nature, and pivoting on her proven graphic design career, Cristina’s paintings explore the beauty around us through abstract, graphical shapes and colors.
Born into a large family of artists, and showing a strong artistic talent at an early age, she began taking art classes as a child. In college her love of art grew, as she majored in Graphic Design with a minor in Art History.
Her early influences were family, where family gatherings included family art sessions, with everyone feverishly working elbow to elbow at a table full of art supplies, and family dinners frequently ended with the artists drawing caricatures of each other on the napkins. Later it also included family art exhibitions with four generations showing work.
This family art tradition began with her grandfather, Julio Montesinos Malo, from Ecuador. His work included spearheading a 1930s Ecuadorian underground political magazine, featuring many of his own caricatures and stories. Eventually he moved into graphic design and then into fine art, painting to the end of his life. Julio told bedtime stories of the great masters and passed on his fervor for visual expression to his children and grandchildren, encouraging them to pursue some form of visual art.
For over 25 years, Cristina has created award-winning visual and interactive experiences in print, identity, and digital design. For the last 10 years, as the owner of her own design firm, she has worked at the creative intersection of visual design, interaction design, and user experience. She has designed and directed websites, mobile apps, identity systems, print collateral, ecommerce systems, advertising, infographics and illustrations for hundreds of companies, from large enterprises to emerging startups.
Following her graphic design career, Cristina has moved into fine art. Using her thoughtful approach, combined with meticulous skills, she explores the beauty of shapes and colors in the details of the natural world. Her passion for fine art is evident in her work and personality. She’s excited to follow the path of her family tradition and experience the world of fine art.