Porfirio Gutiérrez is a Zapotec American textile artist based in Ventura, California. He uses traditional Zapotec technology of dyes and materials and redefines Zapotec weaving language to create works that communicates contemporary experiences and the complexity of the Americas today.

Gutiérrez’s expertise is based on a family legacy of treadle loom weaving and ancestral knowledge of his homeland, its organic materials, and their seasonal cycles that result in an unlimited palette of natural colors. He departs from traditional woven motifs in his compositions, exploring the boundaries of his own creative expression and distinct experiences. Through his practice, he asks us to rethink narrow definitions of contemporary art and Indigeneity. While in Zapotec there is no word for “artist” as an occupation, there is a long-held concept of valuing those who hold wisdom within their community. Gutiérrez’s interpretation of ancestral weaving techniques and motifs opens a new dialogue in the imposed dialectic of art versus craft, which he sees as serving little purpose in furthering contemporary Indigenous creative expression. Breaking with that tradition is where he finds ultimate freedom as an artist. 

An internationally known and exhibited artist, 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, 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, in 2023 he was the finalist for Frieze Art Prize, and in 2026, he received the prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship. His work has been covered by ARTnews, The New York Times, PBS, the BBC, Vogue, and Artforum.

This program is presented in conjunction with Land Art Week, which has been organized by the Utah Museum of Fine Arts and Powder Art Foundation, with additional programs presented at Kimball Art Center, UMOCA, and Ogden Contemporary Arts. Learn more here!