Ancestral Materials & Modernism: Fiber Artist Porfirio Gutiérrez

At the Museum | Fleischmann Auditorium

Drawing on ancestral knowledge of natural materials and a family legacy of treadle loom weaving, Zapotec-American artist Porfirio Gutiérrez creates works that communicate contemporary experiences. Join us for a special evening with Gutiérrez, featuring a talk by the artist exploring the cultural heritage and knowledge of nature behind his art. The talk will be followed by a display of his functional work (table centerpieces, rugs, and wall hangings, some available for purchase), open until 7:30 PM.

With an unlimited palette of natural colors, Gutiérrez departs from traditional woven motifs, redefines Zapotec creative language, and explores the complexity of the Americas today. During this special evening, he’ll share his heritage and the cultural significance of the natural materials used in his work, as well as its natural history—such as how acidity affects color when dying with cochineal insects, and the importance of the insect’s life cycle in harvesting for dye.

Tickets $10, click here to register online today while space lasts.

Doors open at 5:30 PM.

Interested in diving deeper into the art of natural dye? Consider joining us for an intensive, two-day cochineal dye workshop with Gutiérrez. The lecture and workshop are both brought to you with support from the Christel Bejenke fund. For more information about either event, contact kperry@sbnature2.org.

More About the Artist

An internationally known and exhibited artist based in Ventura, CA, Porfirio Gutiérrez has taught materials and color at Harvard University, and serves as Fellowships Advisory for the Smithsonian. His work is in the collection of LACMA, Los Angeles County Museum, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and the Tucson Museum of Art. A selection of his dye materials was also documented and added to Harvard Art Museums’ Forbes Pigment Collection, the world-renowned archive of artist materials. In 2015, he received the Smithsonian Institution’s Artist in Leadership fellow, in 2021 he received the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Art Prize, and in 2023 he was the finalist for Frieze Art Prize. His work has been covered by ARTnews, The New York Times, PBS, the BBC, Vogue, and Artforum.

Artist photo by Luiz Garvan