Mexico Potter Quezada Is Focus in San Diego

A major exhibit of pottery by master Mexican artist Juan Quezada and his students forms the core of the “Magic of Mata Ortiz,” opening Saturday at the San Diego Museum of Man.

Quezada, who creates intricate ceramic pieces inspired by pre-Columbian pot shards he collected as a boy in the plains of Chihuahua, Mexico, will demonstrate his technique at the museum next Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. He works without a potter’s wheel, using strands of a child’s hair as his paintbrush.

Ninety-five of the 273 pieces in the San Diego show are by Quezada and 86 are by relatives in his native Mata Ortiz village, said curator Grace Johnson. The balance are by the late Maria Martinez of New Mexico, who made black-on-black pottery, and Nampeyo of Arizona, who helped launch the Southwest art movement in the 19th century; both were inspired by ancient shards.

The exhibit runs through Jan. 14, 2001. The museum, in Balboa Park, is open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily; however, the public will not be admitted until 1 p.m. on opening day. Admission is $5 adults, $3 ages 6 to 17, free under 6. Telephone (619) 239-2001, Internet https://www.museumofman.org.