Chuma Montemayor makes photographic and mixed-media works that treat the image as something remembered rather than recorded. His ongoing Memory series returns to repetition, erosion, and the way a picture persists and shifts in the mind. Each work reads less like a document than a trace — interrupted, layered, and quietly insistent.
A Series Numbered Like a Catalogue
The Memory works carry numbers instead of names, and the numbering is part of the argument: each image arrives as one fragment among many rather than a scene worth titling. Memory 8007, Memory 8009 and Memory 8010 are the tightest expression of that idea — three inkjet prints on cotton paper from 2023, each 38 × 38 cm (14.96 × 14.96 in), each unframed, each USD 2,200. The square format contains the picture rather than opening it out, and the cotton paper keeps contrast low so the tonal shifts stay soft.
Seen together they behave like entries in a ledger of recall. Seen alone, each holds its own quiet: an image that has already begun to wear away.
Why Does the Same Image Keep Returning?
Repetition is the method, not a habit. Montemayor works the same visual problem across years and formats, so a picture is never finished so much as revisited — which is exactly how memory behaves. Memory 73, 2018 makes the case at scale: an inkjet print on cotton paper, 90 × 90 cm (35.4 × 35.4 in), framed in pine with a single acrylic face, in an edition of three and priced at USD 4,350. The square turns the image inward, rewarding slow looking over immediate legibility.
Where the Print Gives Way to the Hand
Several works step off the paper and into direct intervention. Memory 1093 is a 2019 inkjet print carrying applied acrylic, 60 × 40 cm (23.62 × 15.75 in), framed in wood — a unique original at USD 2,750, with no edition behind it. Its companion Memory 1106 uses the same materials and dimensions in an edition of five plus an artist's proof, at USD 2,500.
It is worth reading these listings closely. Some carry the word "print" in the title, but the editions are small and specific — three, five plus an artist's proof, ten — and one of them, Memory 1093, is a unique object. Every work in the series is supplied with a certificate of authenticity.
What Scale Does to a Remembered Image
The largest available work is also the most exposed. Christian Dior Speedo I is an inkjet print on cotton photographic paper mounted on sintra board, 150 × 170 cm (59 × 67 in), shown without glass or acrylic so the surface stays open and matte. It is the last of an edition of three, and it is priced at USD 9,100 — the highest figure in the collection.
Its smaller counterpart, Christian Dior Speedo, works the same charged title at 62 × 42 cm (24.4 × 16.5 in), framed in pine with a single acrylic face, in an edition of ten at USD 2,000. Between them the range is unusually legible: the same enquiry, at two very different volumes.
Every price is published on the work itself, so nothing here is listed as price on request. Art of NOMA is an online gallery with no physical space, which means there is no room to walk into and no one standing over you while you decide — you can sit with an image for weeks before asking a question.
Common Questions About Chuma Montemayor
Who is Chuma Montemayor?
Chuma Montemayor is a contemporary artist working in photography and mixed media, available through the online gallery Art of NOMA. He treats the image as something remembered rather than recorded, and is known for the ongoing Memory series, which explores repetition, erosion, and the way a picture persists and shifts in the mind.
What medium does Chuma Montemayor work in?
Primarily inkjet printing on cotton paper, including cotton photographic paper mounted on sintra board, and mixed-media works in which acrylic is applied directly onto the printed surface. Available pieces range from 38 × 38 cm up to 150 × 170 cm, some unframed, others framed in pine or wood.
How much does a Chuma Montemayor work cost?
Available works run from USD 2,000 to USD 9,100 depending on scale, edition size and treatment. The 38 × 38 cm Memory prints are USD 2,200 each; the 150 × 170 cm Christian Dior Speedo I is USD 9,100. Every price is shown on the work itself.
Are the Memory works limited editions?
Yes, and the editions are small. Available pieces include editions of three, editions of five with an artist's proof, and one edition of ten, alongside Memory 1093, which is a unique original with no edition. Each work is supplied with a certificate of authenticity.
Where can I buy original Chuma Montemayor photography?
Photographic and mixed-media works by Chuma Montemayor are available directly from Art of NOMA, an online gallery. Browse every available piece on his artist collection page, where dimensions, edition details and prices are published on each listing.
Browse every available work in the Chuma Montemayor collection, explore more original photography, or meet the full roster on our artists page.