Convergence, Defenders Descend from Portal to Pueblo
Artist
Virgil Ortiz
Cochiti Pueblo, born 1969
Date2023
MediumCochiti red clay, white clay slip, red clay slip, black pigment (wild spinach plant)
Dimensionsheight, width, and depth: 28 1/2 × 19 × 18 in. (72.4 × 48.3 × 45.7 cm)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineGift of Alan and Benjamin King, Jeffrey Childers and Onay Cruz Gutierrez, Joyce Fitzpatrick and Jay Stewart, Valerie Hillings and B.J. Scheessele, Marjorie Hodges and Carlton Midyette, Stefanie and Douglas Kahn, Bonnie and John Medinger, Mindy and Guy Solie, Cathy and Jim Stuart, Libby and Lee Buck, Liza and Lee Roberts, and an anonymous donor.
Object number2023.16.1
On View
On viewOrtiz uses traditional Cochiti methods and materials to create futuristic worlds that carry forward the history, tradition, and perseverance of his people. Convergence is from Ortiz’s narrative Revolt 1680/2180, which tells of the successful 1680 revolution against Spanish colonizers who for decades persecuted the Pueblo people in New Mexico.
Traversing time between 1680 and 2180, when Pueblo lands are again under attack, Ortiz’s superheroes plan their uprising to fight oppression and defend their land against invaders. Atop the sculpture is Po’pay, the Pueblo leader who organized the 1680 revolt. The faces below are Po’pay’s army of warriors from the future.
[L. Dougherty, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," 2024]ProvenanceCreated by the artist, 2023Published ReferencesNancy Strickland Fields, Rose Simpson and Stephen Fadden, To Take Shape and Meaning: Form and Design in Contemporary American Indian Art (exhibition catalogue) (Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2024), 100, 176, illus. (color) 108-109, 180.Exhibition HistorySanta Fe, NM, The Golden Chapel, Eldorado Hotel, "Convergence: Defenders Descend from Portal to Pueblo," August 17–19, 2023.
Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "To Take Shape and Meaning: Form and Design in Contemporary American Indian Art." March 2-July 28, 2024.
Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection Reimagined," November 18, 2024-present. Object Rights Statement
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