Spoken Through Clay

A NEW  RELEASE SPECIAL:  $95.00, including shipping (US)! Check out the new review in the Denver Post!

 Just a few things which make this book unique!

*   The size!  The book is 11.75″ x 14.25″ and weights over 8 pounds!
*  The photography of the pottery is stunning, emphasizing the individual pieces.
*  Each caption is the artist discussing the individual piece on the page.
*  The artist “biographies” are from interviews with the artists and they discuss their art, culture, lives and history.
*  Organization: The book is not organized by pueblo or family, but entails new ways to think about the future of Native pottery.
*  Printing in Italy gives the book very high quality color and paper.
* The photos of the living artists were taken by Will Wilson using a tin-type process. He was a recipient of the 2107 New Mexico Governor’s Award for the Arts in photography!
*  The book features work by more than 30 contemporary potters and more than a dozen important historic potters.
*  There are essays by myself, Peter Held and Eric Dobkin.  They add to the overall understanding of the project a historic perspective.

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August 18, Pasatiempo Review

“Charles S. King’s new book, Spoken Through Clay: Native Pottery in the Southwest, The Eric S. Dobkin Collection, is spectacularly heavy —which is a problem from a practical standpoint, because once you open it, you won’t want to put it down. With dreamy tintype artist portraits by Diné photographer Will Wilson, dazzlingly crisp images from Addison Doty, and intimate first-person essays written by dozens of artists, the book is a visually delicious, intellectually consuming foray into historic and contemporary Southwestern pottery. In short, prepare to swoon.

“It’s one of the things that makes us who we are. It’s what holds our family together. We are a family of potters. It’s our identity. People don’t realize how much work goes into it just processing the clay and making it. You have to do it with your heart.”—Linda Tafoya-Sanchez

FEATURED ARTISTS Grace Medicine Flower • Dextra Quotskuyva • Autumn Borts-Medlock • Jody Naranjo • Harrison Begay Jr. • Jordan Roller • Sara Fina Tafoya • Lonnie Vigil • Margaret Tafoya • Steve Lucas • LuAnn Tafoya • Loren Ami • Toni Roller • Popovi Da • Linda Tafoya-Sanchez • Mark Tahbo • James Ebelacker• Yvonne Lucas • Jeff Roller • Lisa Holt • Harlan Reano • Nampeyo • Jacquie Stevens • Nathan Youngblood • Jacob Koopee Jr. • Jennifer Moquino • Christopher Youngblood • Maria Martinez • Tony Da • Tammy Garcia • Virgil Ortiz • Joseph Lonewolf • Johnathan Naranjo • Nancy Youngblood • Les Namingha • Russell Sanchez • Christine McHorse • Richard Zane Smith • Rondina Huma • Susan Folwell • Dominique Toya • Jody Folwell

Spoken Through Clay features the pottery of iconic Native American artists from historic potters Nampeyo and Maria Martinez, to contemporary potters Tammy Garcia, Virgil Ortiz, and many others, are featured in a new book published by the Museum of New Mexico Press. Spoken Through Clay: Native Pottery of the Southwest showcases nearly three hundred pottery vessels from the acclaimed Eric S. Dobkin Collection, covering a wide range of mostly Pueblo artists from the Southwest.

“The physical scale of the vessels combined with the depth of the contemporary collection [is] breathtaking,” says author Charles S. King. The book is part of a “transitional process of looking to the clay, the vessel, and the potter’s voice and allowing the pieces to stand on the merit of their artistic integrity.”

The book includes portraits and voices of renowned potters speaking about their artistry and technique, families, culture, and traditions. Many of the artists are connected by Pueblos, generations, or family members. Dynamic color photography captures the depth and dimension of the pieces, while the artists provide an illuminating perspective through narrative captions. Artists, academics, collectors, family members, and gallerists add additional insight about the lives, historical context, and importance of these potters and their work.

SPOKEN THROUGH CLAY Native Pottery of the Southwest The Eric S. Dobkin Collection
By Charles S. King Essay by Peter Held

Artist portraits by Will Wilson
ISBN: 978-0-89013-624-9

352 pages, 320 color plates, 40 artist portraits

Publication Date: August 01, 2017
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Charles S. King is the author of Born of Fire: The Life and Pottery of Margaret Tafoya, The Life and Art of Tony Da, Virgil Ortiz: Revolt 1680/2180, and numerous articles on Pueblo pottery. He has served on boards of art associations, judged pottery at prestigious events, and lectures about the art form. His business King Galleries represents many of today’s leading Native potters and important historic works in clay. Charles lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

 “The ceramicist Maria Poveka Martinez (1887-1980), known to the world as “Maria,” continues, more than two decades after her death, to be the most famous and recognizable Native American artist ever known. Partly it is that her pots, humbly called, are breathtaking works of art no matter the comparison. It is also true that by virtue of her enormously generous spirit and radiant being she managed a kind of approachability that most legends protect themselves against. We feel we know her when her pots have touched us, and out of this exchange something is better in this world.

        The Legacy of Maria Poveka Martinez is Richard L. Spivey’s masterwork as well, his tribute to a friendship with a great artist that began with Maria’s son Popovi Da and extended to Maria and to many of her family members who joined over the years in the collaborations that brought San Ildefonso ceramic art to the world while reviving its ancient roots for every generation of artist to come.

        Two hundred fine examples of Maria’s pottery are reproduced, many heretofore hidden in private collections and museum storage. Among these are nine magnificent storage jars comprising the entirety of the artist’s production in this form. The author’s long association with the family yields reflections on the artist and her important collaborative relationships with Julian Martinez, their son Popovi Da, and daughter-in-law Santana Martinez. The artistic achievements of Maria and Julian’s descendants document significant developments in Pueblo ceramics at San Ildefonso. Many of grandson Tony Da’s works are assembled for the first time.

All of the pottery types and design motifs are here in the best examples from a career that spanned some seventy productive years, along with their identifying signatures, but it is the container of Maria’s life that holds it all with such heart.”

This is a great book if you want to learn more about Maria Martinez, Popovi Da, Tony Da, Santana & Adam, Barbara Gonzales, Cavan Gonzales and other members of the Martinez Family.

Softcover, 208 pages

Over the past decade, Charles King has worked closely with Virgil Ortiz at King Galleries.  Virgil has premiered nearly all his new series at the gallery during that time.  In preparation for this book of Virgil’s work surrounding the Pueblo Revolt 1680/2180, King interviewed and worked with Virgil to help give new insight into this amazing accomplishment.  The result is the first comprehensive analysis and presentation of how Virgil conceived and then brought to life his various series dealing with the Pueblo Revolt.

Virgil Ortiz is an internationally renowned ceramicist, fashion designer, and graphic artist from Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico. He uses contemporary art to blend historic events with futuristic elements. Set against Ortiz’s graphic murals, the exhibition “Revolt 1680/2180: Virgil Ortiz” features 31 clay figures and invites visitors to immerse themselves in a storyline that Ortiz created that begins with the Pueblo revolt of 1680. 

In addition to King’s essay, there is a spectacular forward by Herman Agoyo, who helped bring the statue of Po’Pay to the US Capitol.  Peter Held, renown curator of the Ceramics Research Center, rounds out the essays with insights into how Virgil’s work fits into the modern world of ceramics.

If you have always wanted to understand Virgil’s take on the Pueblo Revolt and how he has re-imagined it in the future, this is certainly the only book to give such insight.  Take a moment and delve into his art and check out the amazing ceramic pieces also featured in the book!  It is stunning!

Revolt 1680/2180: Virgil Ortiz
by Charles King, Foreword by Herman Agoyo
Denver Art Museum, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-914738-98-5
Hardcover, 7 ¾ x 9 in.
80 pages, 58 illustrations

Regarded as one of the great masters of Pueblo ceramics, Margaret Tafoya (1904-2001) is known for her trademark large black polished ceramics, decorated with traditional imagery of rain clouds, water serpents, bear paws, and other symbols. An award-winning artist, she was recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, and a National Heritage Fellowship.
This book is the first complete biography of Margaret Tafoya’s life. It is divided into decades, giving the reader a deeper understanding of her life and pottery over nearly 100 years. It is also the first book to help identify and date her pottery thorough the use of her signatures. There are additional biographies on Virginia Ebelacker, Richard Ebelacker, Lee Tafoya, Linda Tafoya, Jennie Trammel, Mela Youngblood, Nathan Youngblood, Nancy Youngblood, Toni Roller, Jeff Roller, LuAnn Tafoya, Daryl Whitegeese, Mary Ester Archuleta and Shirley Tafoya. The photography of the pottery in this book is exceptional. Personal narratives by family members and family photographs throughout the book create a wonderful sense of her humanity and artistic accomplishments.

This book is now sold out at the publisher as of May, 2018.
Hardcover, 160 pages

King and Spivey present Pueblo potter and painter Tony Da’s artwork and life story in this testament to his legacy. Da was both an art superstar of his time (the high of his career was in the 1960s and 70s) and a deeply private individual. this intimate portrayal brings the reader into the innovative and volatile world of Tony Da.