What if we told you that time doesn’t have to be linear?
That the past doesn’t have to come before the present?
That the future is happening now? We can reimagine time as a navigable stream–past, present, and future flowing together.
Some Indigenous futurists call this idea “slipstream.” It’s a way to rethink our fundamental understanding of time, interconnecting people in a conversation that spans centuries—and it can leave us with new perspectives on what lies ahead.
Virgil Ortiz invites us to learn about the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 by imagining another revolt in 2180. By telling stories of the future and merging them with the traditions of his ancestors, Ortiz brings new perspectives to this history. His vision creates an unlimited future while combating the narrative that Indigenous people exist only in the past.
-History Colorado Museum, 2024
On August 10, the 344th anniversary of the Pueblo Revolt, Daybreak of the Resistance opens at [CONTAINER] in Oga Po’geh, or Santa Fe as it is known today. The great leader Po’pay appears in this exhibition together with other historic figures from the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, which is also known as America’s first revolution. Tesuque pueblo runners Omtua and Catua, charged with spreading word of the revolt and delivering knotted cords to each pueblo leader, run through valleys, up hills and mountains to inform each pueblo about the upcoming revolt.
Ortiz introduces other great pueblo personalities from the year 2180 who come to the aid of their ancestors. Tahu, Recon Watchmen, Sirens, Sikas, and Gliders all travel through portals in time to protect and defend their pueblo ancestors. They share with their 1680 ancestors the knowledge and technology they’ve gained from the future, thus safeguarding their shared traditions, heritage, and the clay that is so important to their culture.
Ortiz collaborated with artists Morgan Barnard, Jonathan Sanchez, William T. Carson, Patrick Lachman, and Alex Sokol to achieve this experiential exhibition. Just as the 1680 and 2180 archetypes in Ortiz’s saga work together to create a beautiful new reality, these artists work together to present the Daybreak storyline with never-before-seen work in clay, sculpture, painting, print, and SFX projection mapping. The Resistance is coming, and it arrives at Daybreak!
It’s late summer of the Castilian Year 1680: A firelight flickers in a crowded kiva as a group of people whisper, heads together. Po’pay has called on delegates from all the surviving pueblos to convene in Taos for a secret meeting, and he tells them the time is ripe for the uprising. Castilian invaders have ravaged their homelands for decades, destroyed and stolen their crops, and decimated their population. If the pueblos are to survive and keep their traditions alive, Po’pay says, the time for action is now, before their way of life is extinguished and lost forever. -Virgil Ortiz, 2024
, 2024, high fire clay and glazes with hand painting, 42 x 37 x 27”
Po’pay and the delegates elect Tesuque pueblo runners Omtua and Catua to spread word of the revolt to each pueblo. Each runner carries knotted deer-hide strips more than 50 miles to surrounding villages, their muscles burning and their feet bruised as they serve as messengers for their pueblo people. Each pueblo is to untie one knot per day until all the knots are untied and the day comes for all the pueblos to simultaneously revolt. To quote revered pueblo governor Herman Agoyo, “This ingenious plan was cut short and the revolt began early. Catua and Omtua were captured and hanged, becoming the first to give their lives to the cause.”
Omtua, 2024, archival print, 20 x 16”
Runners Omtua & Catua
Catua, 2024, archival print, 20 x 16”
Virgil Ortiz and William Carson Runner Collaboration, coal and acrylic on panel, ceramic Runner mask, leather knotted cord, 36 x 24 x 6.5”
Virgil Ortiz and William Carson Runner Collaboration, coal and acrylic on panel, ceramic Runner mask, leather knotted cord, 36 x 24 x 6.5”
Virgil Ortiz’s and William Carson’s collaborative Runner works convey their shared material language. Both artists foreground personally significant natural materials as part of the message of their artworks. For Ortiz, who grew up on Cochiti pueblo, clay and traditional designs are integral in his visual language. Carson’s art considers cultural relationships to fossil fuels, and raises questions about how we value natural materials. Growing up on a cattle ranch in rural Montana surrounded by coal mines inspired his interest in working with coal to create paintings, sculptures, sound performances, and time-based installations.
Virgil Ortiz and Jonathan Sanchez Noa collaboration
Omtua | Sima, 2024, Virginia Flue Cured tobacco on handmade paper dyed with cochineal and logwood, pulp silkscreen, 22.5 x 31”
Gliders, who are 2180 iterations of Runners Catua and Omtua, serve the Recon Watchmen in the same way that Catua and Omtua served their ancient pueblo ancestors in 1680. Gliders deliver messages and key information to the frontlines of the conflict. To do this, they must avoid capture and detection at all costs. Through advanced cloaking technology and camouflage techniques, Gliders have the ability to disappear in plain sight and elude detection. These abilities are crucial to their success as they are entrusted with safely delivering key information from the future to the past, back again, and everywhere in between. In doing so, Gliders bear incredible responsibility. Amidst the many dangers and threats to the pueblo way of life, a message of utmost importance must be delivered: a message that ensures survival throughout time. And we, as the receivers of their message, are the ones responsible for delivering successful results.
Glider
Virgil Ortiz and Jonathan Sanchez Noa collaboration Tahu | Oro Iña, 2024, Virginia Flue Cured tobacco on handmade paper, 19” x 24.5”
Tahu, a leading character in Ortiz’s Pueblo Revolt 1680/2180 saga, reflects pueblo women’s strength, power, and resilience. A young Tahu is challenged to an archery contest against a Castilian fighter. Unaware of Tahu’s extraordinary archery skills, she defeats him. Enraged by the defeat, the Castilian troops retaliate and viciously blind Tahu and all the young girls in the pueblo, using heated swords to pierce their eyes.
Unwilling to accept this unjust punishment, Tahu hones her skills with a bow and arrow and recruits an army of blind archers. They relentlessly battle the invaders and drive them out. Tahu, a humble pueblo girl, becomes a superhero. She tells her fellow warriors, “You are no longer blind when you can see through your fear!”
Tahu & the Blind Archers
Tahu’s story is inspired by pueblo women, my mother and grandmother, sharing stories of the past to help guide the future. They encouraged us to face adversity with a positive outlook. This belief has endured despite nearly 300 years of intimidation imposed on the pueblo people–yet we have persevered. It is the women who help pass down our culture and history and teach us how to overcome our fears, both real and imagined. My mother would often say, “If it weren’t for the women, many of our traditions and ceremonies would be forgotten.”
-Virgil Ortiz
Recon Watchmen
Tahu leads the Recon Watchmen back in time along a necklace of connection from 2180 that unites them with their ancestors from the 1680 pueblo. Battle-tested warriors, Recon Watchmen become the front line of the pueblo resistance. Recon Watchmen covertly surveil the Earth to detect the movements of the imperialist Castilian force bent on destroying pueblo culture. Donning helmets with Stargate crests, Recon Watchmen prevent Castilian encroachments, and protect the clay, language, and culture of their pueblo brethren.
Left to right, Recon Watchman, Kuh Kahn, Recon Watchman-Kuu’ame (South), Bu’name (West), Recon Watchman, Recon Watchman, Shuha, clay, 44 x 35 x 26”, all 2022-2024
Sirens & Sikas
Tahu brings the Sirens and the Sikas to protect the pueblo youth. The Sirens synthesize portals for time travel and defend pueblo youth from the perils of war. Sirens assign each child a Sika–a half-simian, half-canine tetrapod– to protect them. The Sika is simultaneously ferocious toward the imperialist Castillian oppressor and nurturing toward the pueblo child. It can strike terror in the heart of anyone who attempts to harm the pueblo child’s wellbeing or culture, but has the capacity to envelop the pueblo child in its arms and make the child feel safe, loved, and protected.
Siren, 2024, clay, currently on view at the Autry Museum, Los Angeles
Virgil Ortiz, Sika, 2024, clay, currently on view at Autry Museum, Los Angeles
Virgil Ortiz and His Mission of Educating People About America’s First Revolution–the Pueblo Revolt of 1680
In the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary art, few figures shine as brightly as Virgil Ortiz. The descendant of an esteemed lineage of Cochiti pueblo potters, Ortiz cherishes his history and its traditions while simultaneously immersing himself in the present and looking toward the future.
Ortiz is a luminary in the realm of clay and multi-media art. His groundbreaking contributions and boundary-pushing exploration of materials and technology redefines contemporary art. Just like his epic Revolt: 1680/2180 saga, Ortiz himself seems to travel back and forth in time, honoring his ancestral clay creators by practicing their ancient methods while simultaneously inspiring young generations. He gathers clay from his ancestral clay mother, dances in traditional ceremonies, enlists his nieces and nephews to collect wild spinach to boil into traditional black paint. Yet, Ortiz also embraces contemporary ways of creating. He moves seamlessly between clay, fashion design, video, and film. He travels the world to find custom kilns to fire his monumental contemporary clay works honoring the greatest pueblo heroes. He seeks to ignite excitement in the minds of young people, inspiring them to actively practice and take pride in preserving their great pueblo culture.
From a young age, Ortiz’s remarkable skills caught the attention of revered pueblo leader Herman Agoyo, who asked him to carry on the tradition of sharing the stories of the Pueblo Revolt with the younger generation. This was to ensure that the significant historical events and the unique artistic techniques, materials, and traditions of the Cochiti pueblo are never forgotten. Ortiz is driven by this calling to honor and preserve the past, which is evident in his career and inspirational work. Through his art and activism, Ortiz is dedicated to keeping the tradition of the Cochiti pueblo and the invaluable knowledge of his ancestors alive. He is one of the few individuals who continue to uphold ancient puebloan pottery traditions.
Virgil Ortiz’s works have been exhibited in top museums throughout the world, including the Stedelijk Museum in the Netherlands, Fondation Cartier in Paris, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the exhibition Triennale Milano, Milan, Italy, and multiple others throughout the U.S. and abroad. In 2024, Ortiz’s artwork is the subject of numerous current and upcoming museum exhibitions at Lowe Museum of Art in Miami, Autry Museum in Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and [CONTAINER] Santa Fe.
Virgil Ortiz
Ortiz working on Po’pay at [CONTAINER], 2024
EXHIBITIONS
[CONTAINER] Santa Fe, Revolt 1680/2180, Santa Fe, NM
Indigenous Futurism, Autry Museum, Los Angeles, CA
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
New Mexico Museum of Art Vladem Contemporary, Shadow and Light, Santa Fe, NM
Fondation Cartier x Triennale Milano, Siamo Foresta, Milan, Italy
History Colorado Center, Revolt 1680/2180: Runners and Gliders, Denver, CO
Fondation Cartier x Triennale Milano, Mondo Real, Milan, Italy
Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, Fashioning America: Grit to Glamour, Bentonville, AR
Crocker Art Museum, Pueblo Dynasties: Master Potters from Matriarchs to Contemporaries, Sacramento, CA
Denver Art Museum, Virgil Ortiz: REVOLT 1680/2180, Denver, CO
Denver Art Museum, Sovereign: Independent Voices, Denver, CO
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporian, Histories de Voir, Paris, France
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Translator Unleashed, Video Premiere, Scottsdale, AZ
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Autry Museum of the American West
Los Angeles, CA
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino Washington, DC
Stedelijk Museum-Hertogenbosch
Museum of Indian Arts & Culture
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Santa Fe, NM
Richmond, VA
Paris, France
Smithsonian American Art Museum Washington, DC
Denver Art Museum Denver, CO
Portland Art Museum
Portland, OR
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Richmond, VA
North Carolina Museum of Art
Ackland Art Museum
Raleigh, NC
Chapel Hill, NC
Albuquerque Museum Albuquerque, NM
AWARDS & SPECIAL RECOGNITION
National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, Outstanding Achievement Awardee Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Native Living Treasure Awardee
The Kennedy Center, Grand Opening of The REACH, The People We Are, Keynote Speaker
New Mexico Arts: The Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Art in Ceramics Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporian, “Vertigo," permanent collection
ARTIST RESIDENCIES & WORKSHOPS
Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO
Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, Helena, MT
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Studio Workshop, New York, NY
Kennedy Center, Studio Workshop, Washington, DC
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Hear My Voice, Richmond, VA
