Scott B. Montgomery is Professor of Art History at the University of Denver. His research, publishing, and teaching concentrate around the two areas of medieval saints’ cults and psychedelic poster art of the 1960s. Dr. Montgomery – author, filmmaker, and lecturer, maintains a very busy professional schedule.

 

In his free time, he plays music and draws. He has been doodling since a young age, inspired in particular by Hieronymus Bosch, Dr. Seuss, and Lee Conklin. Inspired by music and the history of art, Scott channels his unconscious and ingrained sense of psychedelic play into often confounding imagery. From the free-flowing jams of the Grateful Dead to the roiling aural stew of Miles Davis and the complex fugues of J.S. Bach, the music inspires both the flow and the interlocking of forms.

 

He is self-untrained (and it shows…) and has been at it for decades. Preferring to draw in pen on paper, Scott enjoys the spontaneity of evocative line. This is the foundation of his drawing style – frequently subconscious play of the pen. The dynamics of line fed by the imagination often leads to interlocking forms that rarely sit still. Sometimes the drawings remain self-standing as linear efforts, other times they are filled in with color, adding a psychedelic visual pop to his dynamic linear riots. But always they are grounded in line – animated curvilinear entities. Faces, eyeballs, fingers, and smiles cavort across nebulous spaces and fashion creatures, vistas, and patterns – usually complex albeit sometimes rather simple. Creatures and faces emerge and disappear as another comes into focus. Morphic psychedelic play is at the root of his drawings which often offer multiple perspectives and interlocking forms. It is intended to feel playful, to invite exploration of the various layers of form within the drawings. Happy chaos and visual fun…