Olan Montgomery

Timothy Olan Montgomery (April 12, 1963 – April 4, 2020), best known as Olan Montgomery or simply as Olan, was an American actor and pop artist specializing in mixed-media portraiture. He was active in New York City art circles as a photographer, painter, author, and actor in film and television. He died during the COVID-19 pandemic due to complications brought on by COVID-19.

Biography Early years Timothy Olan Montgomery was born April 12, 1963, in Warner Robins, Georgia, the second of identical twins born to Eslye Lee Moate and Gary Misner Montgomery. He spent most of his youth in Macon, Georgia, graduating in 1980 from Northeast High School in that city. including WWD, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Seventeen, and Cosmopolitan.

Later in life, going only by his middle name of Olan, as well as depictions of social issues, hate crime, and the gay party scene. He employed several techniques including one where his own photographic portraits were transferred to canvas and overlaid with paint or plastic, frequently making use of vibrant color in the process.

"My work is an effort to capture an essence and place it into a perpetual freeze frame," Olan told Musto. "Why can't a nanosecond last forever?" He appeared in the 2014 film Appropriate Behavior as well as Hollywood Dirt (2017), Haymaker (2017), Alterscape (2018), Already Gone (2019), and The Irishman (2019). He was sustained on a ventilator for 26 days before showing signs of recovery and being removed. However, his health subsequently turned for the worse, and he died on April 4, 2020, of complications of the respiratory virus, aged 56.

In a 2009 interview Montgomery was asked by interviewer Manuel Dawson how he would like to be remembered by posterity. Montgomery replied:

"I would like to be remembered as the artist that cared and hopefully was able to use my art to bring people together or at least provided the platform through art to begin a dialogue based in mutual respect without preconception and judgment. I would hope that the work be remembered as a moment in pop culture when the importance of the individual became relevant and no longer reduced and devalued like washing powders and news headlines. We are vibrant individuals and we all count."

Works Big Al in the Big City. (New York: Olan Montgomery, 2009). Dolls. (New York: Olan Montgomery, 2010). The Fast and Furious 15 Minute Make-Up Book. (New York: Olan Montgomery, 2008). Little Things Green Save Our Plant. (New York: Olan Montgomery, 2007). Not a Size 2. (New York: Olan Montgomery, 2009). POP: Art Inspired by New York's Own Subcultures from Celebrity to Subway: Something More through Color and Light. (New York: Olan Montgomery, 2008). POP: Olan 2008 Catalog of Original Paintings, Giclees & Prints by Artist Olan for Art Expo NYC 2008. (New York: Blurb.com, 2008). Rays Every Heart Observes By Oceans Through Heaven. (New York: Olan Montgomery, 2009).

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