Miriam Montenegro
happy art
Interview with Miriam Montenegro
Swedish artist Marisol Evora, who lives in Spain, interviewed Miriam Montenegro for her Artist Spotlight series. Each question is first in English, then (in blue) in German.
About the artist
Miriam Montenegro (b. 1968, Koblenz, Germany) is a contemporary artist known for her vibrant and expressive visual language. She studied Fashion Design in Florence and Romance Languages and Literature in Mainz and Dijon, and later pursued private studies in painting with Miguelle Padgett.
Before dedicating herself fully to the arts, Montenegro spent more than 25 years working as a designer in the international fashion industry, specializing in button and accessories design. Alongside her design career, she developed her artistic practice over three decades and has been working as a full-time artist since 2019.
Her work has been presented in more than 25 solo exhibitions in museums, galleries, and public institutions across Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands, and she has participated in around 70 group exhibitions internationally. In 2006, she was awarded the Cultural Prize of the City of Bendorf.
Montenegro has also engaged in cross-disciplinary artistic collaborations with companies including Amazon Fire TV, Fuji TV, YKK ap, and LG Electronics. In addition to her artistic practice, she is involved in charitable projects, such as designing wine labels for the Lions Club and producing an annual art calendar supporting the non-profit initiative brillenweltweit.de.
Her works are held in private and corporate collections worldwide, including in Germany, the United States, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Ecuador, and Japan.
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information
Artist statement
I have a big passion for color and am always looking for its greatest possible effect. Bright, vibrant color combinations have a direct impact on perception and emotion. With them I want to give energy and convey positivity – preferably with oil and acrylic paints.
Even in my job as a button designer, it was always about the effect of structures, materials and surfaces. I have kept up playing with contrasts of material, color, finish and structures. So I like to give plastic waste (e.g. from coffee bags, chocolate foil or cosmetic packaging) a new life in my artworks. In doing so, I keep realizing how beautiful things can be that are made to be thrown away and how little you need for creative expression.
I’m in recording mode all the time. Places and people that surround me, sensory impressions or just things that fall into my hands inspire me.
Photo: Henny Monzel-Ellermann