Delilah Montoya, “Pink.” Courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum and the artist.
The Delilah Montoya: Activating Chicana Resistance exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum was a once-in-a-generation art masterpiece of photography, printmaking, and large-scale installation. This major retrospective showcases more than four decades of Montoya’s work, focusing on themes of ethnicity, race, religion, Chicano heritage, and activism. Montoya’s work is rooted in the experiences of the U.S. Chicano Borderland communities.
Delilah Montoya, “La Malinche.” Courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum and the artist.
Delilah Montoya was born in Texas, grew up in the Midwest, and now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the land of her mother and ancestors. In a recent interview, Montoya explained that from early childhood days, she always considered herself an artist largely because of her mother’s encouragement. I recently learned about Montoya’s professional growth story, transitioning from graphic arts to photography, her experiences learning to use a copy camera, and later formal photography training. I was amazed at the versatility of her skills and her wide range of creative endeavors.
The Albuquerque Director of Arts and Culture observed, upon the opening of the Delilah Montoya exhibit, that her work addressed an earlier pressing need of the museum, to authentically serve the New Mexico community, “reflecting its diversity, not only demographically, but through the depth and richness of cultural expression.”
Delilah Montoya, “God’s Gift.” Courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum and the artist.
Montoya was an artist for ten years before she achieved her first artistic breakthrough. Inclusion in the CARA exhibit, which debuted at UCLA’s Wright Art Gallery on September 9, 1990, exposed her work to a broader audience. It was the first major U.S. museum collaboration with Chicano artists and communities, emphasizing themes like Aztlán history, feminist visions, regional expressions, and collectives.
Delilah Montoya, Guadalupe Series. Courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum and the artist.
The UCLA Wright Gallery catalog listed two of Montoya’s works, Se Abre el Mundo/The World Opens #1 and #2. Other bibliographic sources note that a piece of her work in CARA was “Our Lady of Guadalupe, Tony Reyna’s Tattoo” (1989), a large-format silver gelatin print capturing a detailed tattoo of the Virgin of Guadalupe on a lowrider enthusiast’s chest.
Delilah Montoya, “Codex Delilah: A Journey from Mexicatl to Chicana.” Courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum and the artist.
Among Montoya’s most intriguing works in the 2026 Albuquerque exhibit is the Codex Delilah: A Journey from Mexicatl to Chicana. The seven panels of the Codex include painted figures, text, and photographic images affixed to amate paper [Mexican bark], which is similar to the paper used in the original codices of Mexico. Each panel, notes art historian Josie Lopez, represents “a specific moment in time and reflects the deeply researched format of the Dresden Codex and many icons of Chicana history and identity.”
The Codex Delilah, a superb conceptual inclusion in the exhibit, dates back to 1992 with Montoya’s creation of the “Codex Delilah, 6th Year Journey,” a seven-panel installation for a 500-year Columbus commemoration. She collaborated with poet Cecilio García-Camarillo on the text, drawing on Mesoamerican codex traditions, using three horizontal registers per panel to depict adventures, healing practices such as curanderismo, and the overlooked roles of women in history.
Delilah Montoya, “La Genizara.” Courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum and the artist.
A major section of the Albuquerque Museum exhibit is dedicated to the Corazon Sagrado [Sacred Heart]. Montoya wrote a thesis on her findings regarding the history, ritual meaning, and syncretic foundations of the symbol, from both the perspective of European belief systems and pre-Columbian Aztec rituals practiced by the Nahua people.
Delilah Montoya, El Sagrado Corazón series. Courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum and the artist.
Montoya told Hannah Cerne of the University of New Mexico that her thesis began with her fascination with the Sacred Heart, a disembodied heart. She asked herself, “When did the disembodied heart appear in Catholicism?” One thing that she discovered about the disembodied heart is that it emerged after the Latin American Conquest. So, she concluded: “We know what the disembodied heart meant to Indigenous people in Mexico; the disembodied heart was a part of the sacrifice.”
Delilah Montoya, “El Matachin/Moro.” Courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum and the artist.
On the topic of Sagrado Corazon, Montoya also told Albuquerque art critic Demetria Martinez that the Sacred Heart does not appear in Catholicism until after the conquest of the Aztecs. Europeans, Montoya argues, brought ideas to the places they were conquering. “A whole civilization was trying to consume and conquer another civilization.” In turn, Aztec culture and beliefs were unfolding for the Franciscans. In the end, we see that the Franciscans, according to Montoya, were exposed to new people and realized that the Aztecs practiced a deep-rooted theology of their own, which in turn influenced Catholicism.
Josie Lopez, who helped prepare the Albuquerque exhibit, argued that El Sagrado Corazón represents a profound reworking of Catholic sacred imagery. Montoya, she tells us, remakes the iconography of the Sacred Heart, a symbol traditionally imbued with divine compassion. “She confronts the colonial weight of evangelization to interrogate its role in both suppressing and co-opting religious power and beliefs.”
Delilah Montoya, “Guadalupe en Piel.” Courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum and the artist.
An excellent primer for further understanding of Montoya’s work would include her 2015 solo exhibition, Delilah Montoya: Syncretism. Montoya told Katherine Ware, curator of her show at the New Mexico Museum of Art, that she had “always been interested in syncretism, in places that are not one thing or another, but many things.” Montoya added that “one of the things I learned early on within the Chicano Movement is the idea of mestizo, the coming together of multiple cultures.”
Delilah Montoya, “Terri ‘Lil Loca’ Cruz.” Courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum and the artist.
We have heard the term mestizo in recent years as a way to expand on Mexicanismo and Chicanismo identity. UT San Antonio professor of Humanities John Philip Santos links mestizaje to history, migration, and genealogy, emphasizing how encounters among Indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, and later Anglo communities produced “a layered civic identity.” In his writing, Santos also describes mestizo culture as something formed through “movement and exchange, not purity,” with the Borderland emerging from centuries of crossings and transformations.
Several works in the Albuquerque exhibit stem from Montoya’s two years of printing with Coronado Studios in Austin, Texas, under Master Printer Sam Coronado [2007-2008]. It was there that Harriett and I first saw the Albuquerque exhibit photograph of the boxer Teri “Lil Loca” Cruz, which Montoya printed with the title “Smile Now, Cry Later.” Montoya depicts Terri Lynn Cruz, arms crossed, revealing her tattoos, standing in front of the Sky Ute Casino in Colorado. The artist chose to make Cruz’s tattoo the focus of the print. Montoya depicted Cruz as a female hero in the portrait in defiance against the oppression of women in society. On her website, Montoya portrays Women Boxers as part of her multifaceted artistic approach to her female subjects.
Delilah Montoya, “Pink.” Courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum and the artist.
In an interview on Cinco de Mayo [May 5th, 2026], Montoya told me of her current plans to set up a darkroom in New Mexico to continue her artistic work. She expressed interest in creating still life compositions inspired by Dutch masters, incorporating modern artifacts to reflect contemporary times and place.
In the excellent exhibition Delilah Montoya: Activating Chicana Resistance, Montoya demonstrated how an artist can “navigate the intersections of spirituality, gender norms, and cultural identity, challenging and redefining perceptions through a unique lens intently trained on the roots of mestizaje.” The exhibit ran from February 7 to May 3, 2026. The Albuquerque Museum published a beautiful book, Delilah Montoya: Activating Chicana Resistance, that documents Montoya’s path of artistic brilliance and lasting impact.
*Special thanks to Andrew Connors, Director of the Albuquerque Museum, and Eduardo Diaz.
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Copyright 2026 by Ricardo Romo. All photo credits as indicated above.