Montez Press started in 2012 as an artist-led publisher. The name Montez draws from three iterations of the spirit of Lola Montez: a dancer, lover, stubborn and ambitious free spirit anticipating modern female self-determination in the nineteenth century. In the mid-twentieth century, Maria Montez—naming herself after Lola and known as the The Queen of Technicolor for her many roles in costume adventure films—was said to be a seductress and terrible actress, but gained cult status for her glamour. Lastly, it was Mario Montez—an underground trans actor, who became famous for roles in movies by Andy Warhol and Jack Smith—who named himself after Maria. Montez Press commissions and publishes experimental work by artists, writers and thinkers with a focus on queer and intersectional feminist practices through the lens of artists’ writing. We aim to disrupt current knowledge economies, to change and contribute to contemporary discourse, to support artists, to provide momentum to artists’ ideas, to bypass arbitrary cultural barriers to entry, to hold space for fiction, and to continually publish emergent ideas in both printed and digital forms. Montez Press are committed to curiosity, questioning established methods and systems, and engaging in open conversation and dialogue, seeking to support unexpected creators, including those who may not receive institutional support due to social and economic systemic prejudices. Montez Press commit to a rigorous editorial process, in an effort to produce work that takes risks and surprises and challenges the reader.
The Team:
A.M Bang, Than Hussein Clark, Emily Pope, Christiane Blattmann, Anja Dietmann, Hasti, Miranda Shutler, Max Prediger, Julian Mader, Thomas Laprade and Stacy Skolnik.
Guest Editors:
Hasti (2023), Onyeka Igwe (2022), Ashleigh Williams (2021).
Instagram: @montezpress