King Galleries celebrates its 30th year in business. Throughout the years, the gallery has been a focal point for Native pottery from the 1920s to the present. Gallery owner Charles S. King has written five books on native pottery, along with numerous articles and lecturing on the art form. The gallery exclusively represents nearly twenty of today’s leading and up-and-coming potters. In addition, the gallery represents regional artists, including Marcia Molnar, Mary Calengor, Mike Esch, and Andrea Vargas. Renowned Santos carver Arthur Lopez is also represented. Each year, on the Friday before Indian Market in August, the gallery brings together over 20 Native artists in the gallery with new works, making it our busiest and most exciting show of the year.

The Native ceramics throughout the gallery tell the story of the art form, history, and culture for the past 100 years. In addition to historic signed works, it is the innovative potters who are working today that are redefining Native art. They boldly tell their stories in clay, often using classic shapes or traditional techniques that are blended with contemporary designs or unique forms of firing. These potters typically make less than 20 pieces a year and consistently win awards, creating new gallery shows of their work, and exhibiting in museums nationwide.

Les Namingha (Hopi-Tewa/Zuni) is an innovator in Native art. He is a descendant of Nampeyo of Hano. Each piece is coil-built and fired. They are painted with acrylic, using layers of paint, blending stories of his Pueblo culture along with personal experiences. The complexity, content, and detail on his pottery combines the ancient with the modern.

Tammy Garcia (Santa Clara Pueblo) has changed the world of Native art. She works in clay, bronze, glass, and silver. Her creativity is often stories of her own life, women, and Pueblo culture and life. For over ten years, King Galleries has exclusively represented her new works in various media with annual shows and artist lectures.

Jared Tso (Navajo) is one of the exciting young potters who is challenging contemporary perceptions of what can be done with Native clay. Traditional shapes have evolved into near sculptural forms. Outdoor firings create colorations burned onto the surface. There is an evolution in his work that is part of the new century of Native art.

Nancy Youngblood
Arthur Lopez
Les Namingha
Tammy Garcia
Jared Tso
Jason Garcia
Daniel Begay
Stephanie Tafoya
Jennifer Tafoya
Marcia Molnar