Gorky Gonzales is a well-known Mexican potter born in 1939 in the town of Morelia, Michoacan. He passed away in 2017 at the age of 77. Growing up in an artisan family Gorky was always surrounded by clay work thanks to his father, Rodolfo Gonzales, who was a well-known Mexican sculptor. Taking after his father, Gorky went to study in the state of Guanajuato. Here he developed a major interest in Majolica style pottery.
While he was studying in San Miguel de Allende, Gorky met a Japanese man named Hisato Murayama who introduced him to Japanese pottery making. Gorky studied the books his friend gave him and earned a scholarship to continue his studies in Japan.
In Japan Gorky was able to study under well-known Japanese pottery masters. He studied with Tsuji Seimei who taught him the shigaraki technique in Tokyo. This technique consists of mixing different clays together to create a stronger one. The vessels are then hand formed or placed onto a potter’s wheel. The pieces at times can come out pink or other shades of red, with tones of scarlet and brown after they have been fired. Gorky also went to study in Bizen, Japan under another master named Fujiwara Kei and his sons. Together they taught him the Bizen-Yaki technique (clay pieces fired in a wood kiln, often left unglazed).
In the time frame that Gorky was studying these pottery techniques in Japan he created some beautiful pieces, but he also met a woman named Toshiko Ono. They dated and eventually married. Together they moved back to Mexico and landed back in the state of Guanajuato where he opened his own workshop.
Gorky dedicated his work to bringing back the Mexican Majolica style pottery while incorporating the techniques he learned in his studies in Japan. Majolica is a mix of Moorish, Italian and Spanish designs brought to Mexico centuries ago. This style of pottery had been lost in Mexico for 60-70 years before it was reintroduced by artists like Gorky.
Gorky worked with his son and passed down his various techniques. When he passed way his son took over and continued his father’s legacy. His son, also named Gorky, has kept his father’s designs and the traditional Majolica way of painting while also incorporating new designs of his own and bringing in a new audience.
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