Show Preview | Revolt 1680/2180: Runners + Gliders

Virgil Ortiz, Mopez, high-fire clay, and glazes, 16 x 10 x 17.

Virgil Ortiz, Mopez, high-fire clay, and glazes, 16 x 10 x 17.

History Colorado, Denver, CO
On view now

Visionary artist Virgil Ortiz has long captivated the art world with his provocative clay sculptures and an innate sense of creativity and world building. One of his most ambitious projects has been the ongoing and evolving Revolt series that spotlights the history of the 1680 Pueblo Revolt with an Indigenous Futurism twist. History Colorado in Denver, which offers access to Colorado’s history through cultural and heritage resources like museums and historic sites statewide, worked with the Cochiti Pueblo artist to bring a new iteration of the project to the Mile High City in the exhibition Revolt 1680/2180: Runners + Gliders.

The immersive exhibition pairs mapping and augmented reality with centuries-old Cochiti sculptures and ancestral Puebloan pottery. Ortiz, known for his pottery that keeps Cochiti traditions and techniques at the forefront while embracing apocalyptic themes and science fiction, adds to Revolt characters inspired by the historic figures Omtua and Catua, who were integral in the 1680 uprising.

“Serving as messengers during the 1680 rebellion, Omtua and Catua delivered knotted cords made of deer hide which served as coded messages to the Pueblos of what is now New Mexico,” the museum describes in a press release. “The leaders of each Pueblo were instructed to untie one knot on the cord every morning and when the final knot was undone the Pueblos were to revolt simultaneously.”

At the center of the show are Ortiz’s own ceramics including three works: Kuan, Mopez and Recon Watchman. His other art forms are on display in photography by Kamden Storm that depicts the Recon Watchmen in Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, New Mexico. The outfits worn by the models in the photos feature armor from painted foam; weapons crafted from wood and metal; silk cloaks adorned with Ortiz’s signature design elements—Sun, Moon, Rez Spine and VMaze—as a coat of arms; and custom masks fabricated using silicone, latex and resin.

Photoshoot on location at Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, New Mexico (Bisti Badlands). Photo by Kamden Storm.

Photoshoot on location at Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, New Mexico (Bisti Badlands). Photo by Kamden Storm.

The Recon Watchmen, as explained, “are from 2180, watching over the past, present and future of the Pueblo peoples in New Mexico. In this scene, the Watchmen covert surveillance of Earth to detect any movements of a Castilian army toward the Pueblo lands. Donning helmets adorned with Stargate crests, the Recon Watchmen, armed with impenetrable Ha’pons (war shields), start sealing off pathways and portals and storm the Castilian settlements. The enemy is besieged and driven out. They quickly gather the survivors and search for any remaining clay artifacts from the battlefields. They realize that challenges and persecution will continue, so preserving and protecting their clay, culture, language, and traditions from extinction is imperative.”

In between takes: Virgil Ortiz with two Recon Watchmen characters, on location at Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, New Mexico. Photo by Kamden Storm.

In between takes: Virgil Ortiz with two Recon Watchmen characters, on location at Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, New Mexico. Photo by Kamden Storm.

According to Jeremy Morton, the public engagement manager at History Colorado, the show is the “most artistically adventurous” that it has mounted. In a press release he adds, “It provides us an opportunity to think about time and history differently, to look back into the past, and forward into the future in a way few history museums have ever tried.”

History Colorado will host a free reception for the exhibition from 6 to 8 p.m. on May 18, with RSVP required. Attendees will hear remarks from Ortiz and History Colorado’s executive director Dawn DiPrince as well as enjoy light refreshments and a cash bar.

contact information
www.historycolorado.org

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