Virgil Ortiz: Slipstream

Virgil Ortiz: Slipstream opens at the Lowe Art Museum on October 18, 2024, and runs through January 11, 2025. This exhibition presents nearly three dozen works by visionary artist and designer Virgil Ortiz, an enrolled member of the Cochiti Pueblo. Known for blending Indigenous history with contemporary art, Ortiz draws on ancestral techniques learned from his mother and grandmother while incorporating modern elements like augmented reality, video installations, and photography. 

A central theme of the exhibition is the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, an Indigenous uprising that Ortiz reimagines through futuristic figures, connecting the past to present-day narratives. Slipstream merges time, space, and Indigenous futurism, offering a fresh perspective on historical events. The exhibition features large-scale ceramic sculptures created in collaboration with master artisans in Cuernavaca, Mexico, along with hand-coiled vessels and elaborate costumes.

Ortiz’s work invites viewers to consider the fluidity of time and space, blending science fiction with cultural heritage to explore themes of agency and tradition.