Juan Quezada Celado
Juan Quezada Celado was a renowned Mexican potter and artist from Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, celebrated for his contributions to the ceramic arts. His journey began in a modest agricultural community, where he developed an early interest in art by experimenting with local materials. Inspired by the ancient pottery traditions of the Paquimé culture, Quezada undertook extensive experimentation to revive and innovate these techniques, ultimately creating unique ceramic pieces that garnered international acclaim.
In 1976, his work gained significant exposure when an archaeologist discovered his pots and facilitated exhibitions in the United States, leading to widespread recognition. Quezada's artistry not only transformed his own life but also uplifted his community, as he shared his techniques with family and neighbors, fostering a vibrant pottery movement in Mata Ortiz. His efforts contributed to the town's evolution into a respected center for ceramic art, with hundreds of artists practicing there by 2016. Quezada was awarded Mexico's prestigious Premio Nacional de los Artes in 1999, and he continued to be an influential figure in the arts until his passing in 2022.
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Subject Terms
Juan Quezada Celado
- Born: May 6, 1940
- Place of Birth: Tutuaca, Mexico
- Died: December 1, 2022
Mexican artist, potter
Significance: Quezada was an artist who, inspired by the designs and craft of pre-Hispanic potters, created ceramic art that received international acclaim. He shared his technique with family members and other residents in his town. This helped to transform the small, economically struggling agricultural community into a respected colony of artists.
Background
Juan Quezada Celado was born in Tutuaca, Chihuahua, Mexico to José Quezada and Paulina Celado. In Tutuaca his father worked as a vaquero, farming, and tending to livestock. His mother, originally from San Lorenzo, worked as a cook. When Juan was a year old, the family moved several hours north to the town of Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua.
In 1949, at the age of nine, Quezada entered school. In order to help to support his family, he left school three years later after completing second grade. His parents noticed his artistic inclinations from an early age. He drew, painted, and experimented with raw local materials he found, such as clay and straw.
One of the ways young Quezada helped his family financially was by roaming the countryside with his burro to collect materials to sell, such as firewood, agave spikes, and honey. Other residents of Mata Ortiz had discovered artifacts such as pottery bowls or potsherds from the Paquimé (also known as Casas Grandes) buried in the terrain. Quezada collected the pieces he found, and began to experiment with ways to create pieces in the Casas Grandes tradition. Although there were other potters in the village, notably Felix Ortiz, there was no direct link to the process used by the pre-Hispanic peoples of Paquimé. So he began a long series of experiments in pot construction, paint creation, and painting technique.
Life's work
Quezada began his experiments in 1955. Many of the first pots he formed cracked easily, until he found a sturdier mix of clay and ash. A few others in his town were beginning to experiment as well—they saw an economic opportunity in creating replicas of lost artifacts to sell to tourists. Quezada successfully devised a method of layering and smoothing clay without the use of a pottery wheel. He sculpted with broken pieces of hacksaw blades and used tools such as polishing stones to smooth the clay; he painted the pottery using a brush he made from human hair.
In 1964 Quezada met his future wife, Guillermina Olivas Reyes (known as Guille). They married, had children, and moved several hours south to a town called Namiquipa. As their family grew, Quezada decided they needed to return to Mata Ortiz for greater economic opportunities. He worked as a railway laborer and continued to refine his art. Quezada experimented with pigments and house paints, but he remained unsatisfied at how the colors faded when he fired the clay. Quezada eventually discovered a combination of minerals that remained black under fire around the time of his first son's first birthday.
As his skill grew, he gave away many of his pieces to friends or to people who noticed and complimented his work. A few pieces found their way to traders, who distressed the pots and sold them under the false pretense that they were ancient artifacts. Nevertheless, the money from the traders soon became a crucial source of income. He shared his skills with several of his nine siblings, who in turn helped educate their own children with Quezada's techniques. Quezada, Felix Ortiz, and the extended Quezada family began dedicating more time to pottery creation and, in some cases, fine art ceramics.
In 1975 Quezada left railroad work to work as an artist full time. On a trip to the United States with a friend of his, he decided to bring some of his pots to sell to finance his travels. In 1976 three of Quezada's pots ended up at Bob's Swap Shop, a junk store in Deming, New Mexico. Archeologist Spencer MacCallum happened upon the pots, was struck by their beauty, and became determined to find the artist. He took photos of the pots with him on a trip into Mexico, and eventually located Quezada in Mata Ortiz. Through MacCallum's patronage and connections the pair elevated the visibility of Quezada's work on a grand scale.
In 1977 Quezada exhibited his work at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Los Angeles Times sent a reporter to profile Quezada and the growing ceramic arts movement in Mata Ortiz. From that point on Quezada's exposure steadily grew, and his work reached an international audience. His pieces are part of the permanent collections of several major museums, and he was the subject of many books, interviews, and a documentary film.
Impact
Quezada became a major figure in the ceramic arts movement now known as Mata Ortiz pottery. In 1999 he was awarded the prestigious Premio Nacional de los Artes, the highest award an artist can receive in Mexico, from president Ernesto Zedillo.
Quezada also ensured his community profited from the new sources of income afforded by knowledge of ceramic technique. Quezada's artistry, skill, and insistence that the people he educates preserve the work's high quality helped lift the once-struggling agricultural town of Mata Ortiz into a respected community of artisans. As of 2016 there were several hundred working ceramic artists living in Mata Ortiz.
Personal life
Quezada had nine siblings, several of whom are ceramic artists. He had eight children with his wife Guillermina Olivas Reyes. He lived in a ranch house called Rancho Barro Blanco on the banks of the Palanganas River near Mata Ortiz. He died in 2022 at the age of eighty-two.
Bibliography
Andrews, Nancy. "Tea with Juan Quezada: An Afternoon at Rancho Barro Blanco." Journal of the Southwest, vol. 54, no. 1, 2012, pp. 177–83.
Hills, Jim. "Reconstructing a Miracle: New Perspectives on Mata Ortiz Pottery Making." Journal of the Southwest, vol. 54, no. 1, 2012, pp. 81–158.
MacCallum, Spencer H. "Pioneering an Art Movement in Northern Mexico: The Potters of Mata Ortiz." Kiva, vol. 60, no. 1, 1994, pp. 71–91.
Minnis, Paul E., and Michael Whalen. Ancient Paquimé and the Casas Grandes World. U of Arizona P, 2015.
Parks, Walter. The Miracle of Mata Ortiz: Juan Quezada and the Potters of Northern Chihuahua. Rio Nuevo, 2012.
"The Ballad of Juan Quezada." Frontline/World. Produced and Filmed by Josiah Hooper, PBS, May 2005. www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/mexico403/.
"Publications." Mata Ortiz Calendar. www.mataortizcalendar.net/publication.html. Accessed 2 Nov. 2016.