Artwork Description
Virgil Ortiz – Tahu, Leader of the Blind Archers
Dimensions: 47.75 x 47.75 x 2″ finished size
Year: 2024
Medium: acrylic and graphite
Po’Pay was a pueblo Tewa religious leader who lived in what is now known as New Mexico. In an act of religious oppression, Spanish colonizers arrested Po’pay for practicing his native religion with his people. In attempts to preserve pueblo culture and help his people survive, Po’pay began organizing his pueblo community to rebel against the Spanish. The revolt is knows as the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, and it was America’s true first revolution. Po’pay and the Pueblo, Apache, and mixed Indigenous-Spanish forces he led chased their Spanish oppressors out of New Mexico and ruled independently for 12 years.
Po’pay is one of the most inspirational leaders in Pueblo history, and Virgil Ortiz dedicates a large portion of his artistic practice to telling the story of Po’pay and the revolt he led.
This monumental work is felted by Ortiz, emblazoned in red.