The Miracle Man of Mata Ortiz
Juan Quezada 1940-2022

By Rebekah Powers | January 2023

The village of Mata Ortiz is mourning the loss of their leader, their teacher, and their inspiration: Juan Quezada. It was Juan who recovered the ancient art form of pottery that lifted the entire town out of poverty and certain obscurity to become a mecca of creativity, innovation and exquisite pottery.

Juan was a young boy who would wander near the ruins of his ancestors, known as the great city of the Pacquime, while tending to his small heard of cattle, searching for firewood, agave shoots, wild honey and rattlesnakes (for meat) to help feed the large family of 9 brothers and sisters and his parents.

Juan Quezada, 12” x 10”

He was already painting and sculpting, using what materials he could glean from nature. As early as 7 years old, he ground rocks, plants, egg yolks and even grasshoppers into natural paint. He also drew on paper, wood and the walls of his humble family home. So it came as no surprise to his family that he began to bring home pottery shards with ancient designs from near the ruins which people referred to as Casas Grandes Pottery. He obsessively studied the local clay body that was used, the rounded bottoms of more complete pots that had survived since the 12th – 15th century and he began through trial and error to replicate the form, the burnished surfaces and the designs painted and scored into the clay.

When his work was discovered by anthropologist Spencer MacCallum in 1976, he started selling his best pieces. It was only a matter of time before dealers, museums and galleries began to acquire the unusual pots with a distinctive high sheen and curious designs that appeared at once ancient and like something from the future.

Juan and his wife had 8 children, so naturally he shared his growing fame and fortune by teaching them what he had learned, and encouraging individual interpretations but always within certain parameters of the ancient art form. But Quezada was not content to keep this success for his own family and he made it his lifelong personal mission to teach others in the town of Mata Ortiz.

Juan Quezada, 11” x 9” – SOLD

The discovery and its development became a great financial boon to the small dusty town as more and more families were taught by Juan and is referred to in ballads and folklore as “The Miracle”. One of the best artists, Jorge Quintana said in an interview for PBS, “Because of Juan, the people of Mata Ortiz have tasted the fruits of artistic success and been given a flourishing creative direction for the future of the entire town.”

“We owe it all to Juan”, Quintana says. “He is the teacher.” Over 300 families earn a living now from their ceramic artwork. Juan is said to have been like a character out of a Mexican fable, in his cowboy hat and boots, possibly carrying his pet javelina named “Javier”. He received the greatest award that Mexico can give to a living artist: the Premio Nationale de Los Artes. One journalist described his life as a fairytale adding, “It doesn’t hurt that the fairy tale is true.”

At Chimayo Trading “The Miracle” lives on, and the story of his talent, tenacity and generosity is on full display. In honor of the great contributions of his life, we are featuring a selection of works by the very best artists of Mata Ortiz and also one exquisite pot by the man himself: Juan Quezada. Choose from a marvel of diverse styles and sensibilities, all from Mata Ortiz which will forever be a town that remembers and signs his name. Juan Quezada, 1940-2022

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