September 12 - November 1, 2025

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Porfirio Gutiérrez (b. 1978) is a California-based Zapotec artist and activist whose deliberately patterned textile works are informed by a marriage of his cultural heritage and an exploration of Modernist principles. Embracing the traditions of the Cloud People, or Zapotecs, who have lived in the Oaxaca Valley of Mexico for over two centuries, the artist works with material sourced directly from the earth, informed by his childhood learning weaving and dyeing techniques from his parents. Gutiérrez’s palette is determined by the varied flora which populates his homeland. Acutely aware of nature’s constant flux, Gutiérrez makes record of the exact period a plant is harvested for dyes, which he calls its “seasonal imprint,” noting that the color gleaned from a specific plant or insect will vary in vibrancy as the effects of climate change continue to be felt.

In 2023, the artist’s work was the subject of a solo exhibition, Continuous Line/Cosmos, at Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX. Gutiérrez’s work has also been included in numerous significant group exhibitions in recent years, including We Live in Painting: The Nature of Color in Mesoamerican Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA in 2024; Sangre de Nopal, Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA in 2024; Temporary Spaces, Mingei International Museum, San Diego, CA in 2024; Weaving at Black Mountain College, Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, Asheville, NC in 2023; and Origins, Sharjah Institute, UAE in 2023, among others. Gutiérrez’s work has been acquired by a number of public collections, including the The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; and The National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., among others.