Derek Gonzales and Maria Povika

Maria Montoya Martinez (1887-1980 San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico)
Derek Gonzales born 1986
Maria Martinez was from the San Ildefonso Pueblo, a community located 20 miles
northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. At an early age, she learned pottery skills from her
aunt. During this time, Spanish tin ware and Anglo enamelware had become readily
available in the Southwest, making the creation of traditional cooking and serving pots
less necessary. Traditional pottery-making techniques were being lost, but Martinez and
her family experimented with different techniques and helped preserve this cultural art.
In a curatorial exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe, Timothy Robert
Rogers cleverly has placed together Agnes Martin, Maria Martinez and Florence Pierce,
who are noted for producing simple, elegant and refined art that displays their quest for
perfection. Pursuit of Perfection marks the first time these three New Mexican artists
have been brought together for their common visions and mastery of transcendence in
art.
After her son, Popovi Da, began working alongside his mother, Maria began referring to
herself as “Maria” on the pottery. They began co-signing their pieces around 1959 as
“Maria +Poveka” and “Maria/Popovi."Thus, studying the signature on one of Maria’s
pots can give a clue to the date of completion, as dates were not added to the pottery
until recent years. Maria’s son, Adam, and his wife Santana, collected clay, coiled,
polished, decorated, and fired the pottery. Adam took over his father’s job of collecting
clay and painting the decorations. “Marie + Santana” became the new signature on the
pots.
#7 Maria Povika c 1970 4500
#2 Maria Povika c 1965 2500
#6 Santana & Adam Yucca Design c1970!
#3 Santana & Adam c1970
! !
!
1200
1200
Derek Gonzales creates similar fine-line perfectionism in his graphic murals that are
found in Maria’s pottery. Studying graphic design at the Art Center of Design College in
Albuquerque, Gonzales has been inspired by pop-culture and his own indigenous
culture, where he finds new and old commonalities in abstraction as a powerful form of
communication. Gonzales moved back to San Ildefonso Pueblo after college and has a
studio there.
Untitled
2015 Vinyl over wood panel- 96 by 48 by 2.25 inches, size vary
4,000 (does not include installation)