When Virgil Ortiz fires up his kiln, he’s not just shaping clay—he’s reshaping history. On June 20, his new exhibition, Continuum: Blindfall, First Strike, opens at Vladem Contemporary in Santa Fe, weaving together centuries of resistance, identity, and reconciliation through the lens of the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. But this isn’t just a retelling—it’s a reimagining, one that stretches from the past into a speculative future of 2180, where Indigenous futurism meets ancestral memory in dazzling form. Ortiz, a Cochiti Pueblo artist, has spent over two decades building his Revolt 1680/2180 project, and this latest chapter marks a bold evolution: for the first time, he’s invited collaborators with Spanish and Chicano heritage—lifelong friends Eric F. Garcia and Tommy Lomeli—to help tell a more complete story.
The Pueblo Revolt, a historic uprising that expelled Spanish colonizers from present-day New Mexico for over a decade, has long been central to Ortiz’s work, often centered on Po’pay, the Tewa leader who unified Pueblo communities. But Continuum expands the narrative, embracing complexity rather than simplifying it. Garcia, whose ancestry includes Spanish, Mexican, and Native American roots, contributes a nostalgic layer, integrating Spanish religious iconography to reflect his own lineage. Lomeli, a second-generation Mexican American from California, brings lowrider culture into the mix, painting ceramic busts of supernatural “aeronaut pilots” with the same glittering automotive finishes seen on custom cars. These pieces aren’t just art—they’re acts of dialogue, bridging cultures through craft.
The exhibition is also a homecoming of sorts. Ortiz has pulled historic Cochiti pottery from museum vaults, including a piece by his mother, Seferina Ortiz, a renowned potter whose legacy lives on in her son’s hands. Two additional works, loaned by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture—one dating to the 1890s—anchor the show in deep ancestral tradition. As Alexandra Terry, the museum’s curator of contemporary art, notes, this convergence of past and future, family and collaboration, creates a rare display of living heritage. The free opening reception on June 20 invites the public not just to witness, but to reflect: Who were our ancestors in this story? What roles did they play?
Ortiz’s vision extends beyond the gallery. He hopes Continuum will stir a deeper reckoning—one that acknowledges the genocide and bloodshed endured by Pueblo people while encouraging all New Mexicans to explore their own roots. In a state shaped by collision and convergence, this exhibition doesn’t offer easy answers. Instead, it opens a space where history can be held, questioned, and reimagined—by those who lived it, and those still living its echoes.