A Preview Exhibit by Joseph “Nuke” Montalvo
Presented by Sitting Boom Studios
For over three decades, Montalvo has shaped the visual landscape of Los Angeles through graffiti, murals, painting, and cinematic installation. MONTALVO-MAD traces an artistic journey rooted in transformation — where destruction becomes a necessary force for reinvention.
This pre-exhibition offers an early view into several major works from the forthcoming retrospective, exploring themes of memory, urban mythology, identity, and rebirth. Revisiting the emotional terrain of Los Angeles, Montalvo confronts the tension between creation and collapse, personal history and collective experience.
The exhibition also marks a symbolic transition: the evolution of “Nuke,” an identity forged in the streets, into Sitting Boom Studios — a practice focused on reflection, storytelling, and cultural preservation. What emerges is not an erasure of the past, but its transformation into something deeper and enduring.
