Virgil Ortiz (born 1969) is a
Pueblo
In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
artist, known for his pottery and fashion design from
Cochiti Pueblo
Cochiti (; Eastern Keresan: Kotyit ʰocʰi̥tʰ– "Forgotten", Navajo: ''Tǫ́ʼgaaʼ'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. A historic pueblo of the Cochiti people, it is part of the Albuquerque Met ...
,
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
. Ortiz makes a variety of pottery, including traditional Cochiti figurative pottery, experimental figurative pottery, traditional pottery vessels. His clothing and jewelry designs are influenced by traditional Native American pattern and aesthetics. He is best known for his edgy pottery figures, his contemporary take on the traditional Cochiti pottery figures (''monos'') from the late 1800s.
About
Virgil Ortiz was born in 1969 at
Cochiti Pueblo
Cochiti (; Eastern Keresan: Kotyit ʰocʰi̥tʰ– "Forgotten", Navajo: ''Tǫ́ʼgaaʼ'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. A historic pueblo of the Cochiti people, it is part of the Albuquerque Met ...
in New Mexico and was the youngest of six children.
He is of the Herrera family of Pueblo potters in New Mexico, whose work is often found in art collections and in art museums.
Virgil's mother is noted potter Seferina Ortiz (1931-2007) and grandson of Cochiti potter,
Laurencita Herrera (1912–1984).
His mother taught him to make traditional Cochiti pueblo pottery. “The thought has never crossed my mind to be anything other than an artist and fashion designer. Art is in my blood,” he said. His three siblings are also potters,
Inez Ortiz, Joyce Lewis, and Janice Ortiz.
Virgil won his first
Santa Fe Indian Market
The Santa Fe Indian Market is an annual art market held in Santa Fe, New Mexico on the weekend following the third Thursday in August. The event draws an estimated 150,000 people to the city from around the world. The Southwestern Association for ...
award at the age of 14.
“I grew up participating in Indian Market, it was always an exciting time for my family,” he said.
By age 16, Virgil Ortiz was a successful, working artist and he began to travel. “I would have a show, sell pottery and save,” he said in an interview. “With the money saved I would take a friend and we would travel to different cities -- New York, Chicago, Los Angeles -- and I got to experience different cultures.” Virgil was drawn to the night club scene. There he saw many people with tattoos and piercings that reminded him of the 1800s Cochiti figures.
“I was inspired to create images of what I saw, it gave me a freedom knowing that I was not an innovator or even going outside of tradition, I was in fact a Revivalist,” he said.
Honors and awards
Ortiz was selected to be a
United States Artists
United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards.
Mission
The organization' ...
, Target Fellow in 2007, in Crafts and Traditional Arts.
Ortiz received the 2022 Living Treasure Award from the
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the Ameri ...
.
Collections
Virgil Ortiz's works are in various permanent museum collections, including the
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers.
The museum has three ...
,
Stedelijk Museum
The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. ,
[Ancient Interpreters: Virgil Ortiz](_blank)
by Jay Tavare
Jay Tavare is a Native American actor and a former blogger for Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and inter ...
, Huffington Post, 08/06/2012 Museum of Indian Arts & Culture
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the Ameri ...
,
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the su ...
,
Albuquerque Museum
The Albuquerque Museum, formerly known as the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, is a public art and history museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The museum is located in the Old Town area and is operated by the City of Albuquerque Department of ...
, and others.
Work
Traditional Cochiti pottery figures (''monos'' )
During the early days of the transcontinental railroad, Cochiti artists caricatured the travelers—circus performers, salesmen, and adventurers— who suddenly appeared in their world. “The figurative style was a form of social commentary,” Ortiz said. “They captured in clay the images of all the crazy, nonnative people who were passing through the area at that time. Those crazier pieces and the tradition of pottery as social commentary really leave the board wide open for me as an artist.” Ortiz and other Cochiti potters have revived this tradition for the 21st century.
Around 1984, Bob Gallegos, an
Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
collector, showed the young Ortiz his collection of 1800s Cochiti pottery. Ortiz couldn't believe how similar the 19th-century pottery was to his own work. He had never seen these pieces before.
Fashion
For a 2003 collaboration with designer
Donna Karan
Donna Karan (, born Donna Ivy Faske), also known as "DK", is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels.
Early life
Karan was born Donna Ivy Faske to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabin ...
, he developed boldly patterned textiles based on his graphic decorative painting. Three years later he established ''Indigene'', his own fashion line.
In 2017, Ortiz collaborated with Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in designing jewelry pieces inspired by Cochiti art forms.
Exhibitions
__NOTOC__
See also
*
List of Native American artists
This is a list of visual artists who are Native Americans in the United States. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 defines "Native American" as being enrolled in either federally recognized tribes or state recognized tribes or "an individual ...
*
Lisa Holt and Harlan Reano, Holt is Ortiz's niece and a Native American potter.
References
External links
Virgil Ortiz official website
*Video
"Here My Voice" Artist Profile of Virgil Ortiz(2017) by
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the su ...
*Video
Virgil Ortiz's ReVOlution(2018) large scale video projections made in collaboration with
Ideum for the 2018 – 2019 exhibition ''Revolution – Rise Against the Invasion'' at
Colorado Springs Fine Art Center at
Colorado College
Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its campus. The college offer ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ortiz, Virgil
1969 births
Pueblo artists
Living people
Native American potters
Artists from New Mexico
Native American designers
Indigenous fashion designers of the Americas
People from Sandoval County, New Mexico
20th-century ceramists
20th-century American artists
21st-century ceramists
21st-century American artists
20th-century Native Americans
21st-century Native Americans