
2013
Ramón José López is a contemporary painter, metal worker, and furniture designer who infuses his work with political messages. This gigantic buffalo hide painting shows the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, an uprising of several Pueblo communities against Spanish colonizers in present-day New Mexico. The Pueblo killed over 400 Spanish colonists and missionaries and drove the remaining 2, 000 settlers out of the province; dozens of Native Americans also died. Twelve years later the Spanish returned and were able to reoccupy New Mexico. Many people consider the revolt and its impact on Spanish rule to be a key factor in Puebloan maintenance of language, culture, and religion to this day.