Biography
2010
Biography
BIOGRAPHY
“The cutting edge is a bleeding edge”, is a line that has haunted Oscar “Trek6” Montes all his life. From his first ventures as a young painter in Miami’s blooming street art scene in the late 80’s to his Sound Art experiments in the new millennium, Trek’s work have always displayed a man’s search for understanding in a world of oddities. Varying in medium and aesthetic the one dominant trait that the entire works share is an eye for the human condition at it’s best and worse, colorful and monochrome.
Art has been a life long passion and pursuit for Trek, dating back to his art upbringing in the 80’s were he studied under the mentorship of Puerto Rican painters
Andres Bueso and son Andy Bueso were he honed his painting skills and learned what it meant to be an artist. His grandmother owned the first art store in Plaza de Americas (Puerto Rico) and through that work she met many of Puerto Rico’s top artist which she forced Trek to study under on his summers. He would return home to Miami with this new knowledge and love of art and carry it with him on the streets of Miami were he was part of one of the city’s most notorious and oldest graffiti crews STV, creating mural all over the city and through out the US and Puerto Rico
In 1999 he went to live in Puerto Rico were he founded the seminal indie band Oruga and the art collective Elastic Module Laboratories. With the help of his EML family he created sound art pieces that have been found in many galleries including Prinardi and Puerto Rico’s Museum of Contemporary Art. He also worked with many local artists on collaborative pieces like the soundscapes done for 2004 “Jardin de Frutos Prohibidos” with Charles Juhasz-Alvarado and a Circa 28 piece with Cuban artist Rigoberto Quintana, and earned an honorable mention in Puerto Rico’s Arte Joven Expo. In between all these movements he even had time to study in Ringling School of Art and Design (Sarasota) as well as Artes Plasticas in Puerto Rico, and now is finishing things up in Full Sail University (Orlando) and continues to teach art to young kids on the side. He returned to Miami in 2007 and together with his wife and business partner Lizzie Easton has been tirelessly working bringing new and innovative art projects to Miami’s streets like the 2011 Art Basel Event “Co11ective” which was housed a 8,000 sp ft warehouse with 11 artist from Miami and Puerto Rico. Trek has been recently participating in urban beautification projects all around the world. He represented Miami in Pow Wow Hawaii and worked again with Charles Juhasz and the EML collective on a mural for Triufunal Polytechnico de San Juan for an exhibition named “Contrafuerte” in Puerto Rico. In 2012 he has had works featured on media sites like Huffington Post and publications such as USA Today, Sun Sentinel and The Miami Herald as well as having a mural showcased on the premier of the Oscar award winning baseball documentary “ The Franchise” on Showtime.
“Real Bboys move in silence” (Krs-one), is a good way to describe Trek6, inching forward little by little over the years collecting a resume of works and projects that have stayed way ahead of there time. Making artistic decisions that seemed unpractical or absurd at the time but are seen as hip and accepted now. “It’s not thinking out of the box, it’s never being the box to begin with”.
“The cutting edge is a bleeding edge”, is a line that has haunted Oscar “Trek6” Montes all his life. From his first ventures as a young painter in Miami’s blooming street art scene in the late 80’s to his Sound Art experiments in the new millennium, Trek’s work have always displayed a man’s search for understanding in a world of oddities. Varying in medium and aesthetic the one dominant trait that the entire works share is an eye for the human condition at it’s best and worse, colorful and monochrome.
Art has been a life long passion and pursuit for Trek, dating back to his art upbringing in the 80’s were he studied under the mentorship of Puerto Rican painters
Andres Bueso and son Andy Bueso were he honed his painting skills and learned what it meant to be an artist. His grandmother owned the first art store in Plaza de Americas (Puerto Rico) and through that work she met many of Puerto Rico’s top artist which she forced Trek to study under on his summers. He would return home to Miami with this new knowledge and love of art and carry it with him on the streets of Miami were he was part of one of the city’s most notorious and oldest graffiti crews STV, creating mural all over the city and through out the US and Puerto Rico
In 1999 he went to live in Puerto Rico were he founded the seminal indie band Oruga and the art collective Elastic Module Laboratories. With the help of his EML family he created sound art pieces that have been found in many galleries including Prinardi and Puerto Rico’s Museum of Contemporary Art. He also worked with many local artists on collaborative pieces like the soundscapes done for 2004 “Jardin de Frutos Prohibidos” with Charles Juhasz-Alvarado and a Circa 28 piece with Cuban artist Rigoberto Quintana, and earned an honorable mention in Puerto Rico’s Arte Joven Expo. In between all these movements he even had time to study in Ringling School of Art and Design (Sarasota) as well as Artes Plasticas in Puerto Rico, and now is finishing things up in Full Sail University (Orlando) and continues to teach art to young kids on the side. He returned to Miami in 2007 and together with his wife and business partner Lizzie Easton has been tirelessly working bringing new and innovative art projects to Miami’s streets like the 2011 Art Basel Event “Co11ective” which was housed a 8,000 sp ft warehouse with 11 artist from Miami and Puerto Rico. Trek has been recently participating in urban beautification projects all around the world. He represented Miami in Pow Wow Hawaii and worked again with Charles Juhasz and the EML collective on a mural for Triufunal Polytechnico de San Juan for an exhibition named “Contrafuerte” in Puerto Rico. In 2012 he has had works featured on media sites like Huffington Post and publications such as USA Today, Sun Sentinel and The Miami Herald as well as having a mural showcased on the premier of the Oscar award winning baseball documentary “ The Franchise” on Showtime.
“Real Bboys move in silence” (Krs-one), is a good way to describe Trek6, inching forward little by little over the years collecting a resume of works and projects that have stayed way ahead of there time. Making artistic decisions that seemed unpractical or absurd at the time but are seen as hip and accepted now. “It’s not thinking out of the box, it’s never being the box to begin with”.
