Behind the Design
Gorky Gonzalez Majolica Pottery
May 6, 2016
La Fuente is excited to introduce customers to one of our newest product lines known as Gorky Gonzalez Majolica pottery. Although the Spaniards introduced this type of pottery, ironically the term Talavera is used much more in Mexico than in Talavera de la Reina, Spain. In fact, Talavera is the oldest tin-glazed ceramic in America and it is still being manufactured with the same techniques as in the 16th Century.
Gorky González Quiñones is a Mexican potter who in 1992 won the prestigious Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes in the area of Popular Arts and Traditions for his efforts to revive Mexican maiolica pottery. "My main interest was always the rescue of traditional Majolica pottery."
He was born in Morelia, Mexico, in 1939. In his early twenties he studied Ceramics in Guanajuato, and later studied Art in the village of San Miguel de Allende. In San Miguel he built an artistic foundry and sculptor studio attended by both students and professional sculptors alike.
González Quiñones uses traditional materials and keeps most of the traditional methods. However, he produces both traditional and contemporary designs, with the clay coming from the nearby Sierra de Santa Rosa. The artist uses both molds and turntables. Colors and designs are relatively conservative, using mineral paints such as copper oxide for green, antimony for yellow and cobalt for blue, all prepared locally. He uses kilns made from heat-resistant cinderblock, using wood, gas and other materials for fuel. They are fired twice with the second to fix the glaze.
His main interest, however, had always been resurrecting traditional Colonial Majolica. He considered traditional Majolica a lost craft representing one of the cultural and historical values of the region. While striving to achieve this goal, Gorky was fortunate to meet Hisato Murayama, a young but cultured Japanese man who was living in Mexico studying Spanish and Mexican History. Hisato, who was a profound connoisseur of pottery techniques, lent Gorky various books on Japanese art and encouraged him to continue his studies in Japan.
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