Bio
With a career spanning four decades, Virgil Ortiz's artistry extends across various media and boundaries—challenging societal expectations and breaking taboos. Raised in a creative environment filled with storytelling, collecting clay, gathering wild plants, and producing figurative pottery, he remains influenced by his grandmother and mother, renowned Cochiti Pueblo potters. Through his exploration of working with clay and various media, Ortiz fuses his Pueblo culture with sci-fi, fantasy, and apocalyptic themes, yielding provocative and futuristic imagery while shaping the fantastical world he's creating with clay and multi-media art. Ortiz also collaborated on a newly released book, Virgil Ortiz: ReVOlution. This mid-career monograph retrospective presents a view into Ortiz's transformative pottery and art, illuminating his creative and artistic expressions. Ortiz’s works are in museum collections worldwide, including the Stedelijk Museum- Hertogenbosch, Fondation Cartier pour I’art contemporain, Smithsonian Institution, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Minneapolis Museum of Art, and Denver Art Museum.
“Art is as essential as our Pueblo language and way of life. It creates the connection to the next generation—to advance into the future utilizing relevant, engaging storytelling and modern, high-tech devices and platforms—this means crafting ideas that engage imagination and feelings of wonder and empowerment.”—Virgil Ortiz
The events of the 1680 Pueblo Revolt are little known among most Americans today; however, it is a pivotal era of New Mexico’s history, and I have always felt it my duty to cultivate and share it with the world through my art. We must acknowledge our past to advance in the future. My mission continues to create global awareness that Pueblo communities are alive and have a vitality level that speaks to generations of strength, persistence, brilliance, and thriving energy. Thank you, Meow Wolf, for providing artists with an incredible platform to share our art and culture worldwide.