The man preserving endangered colours
Back home in the village of Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico, Porfirio Gutiérrez is referred to by his indigenous community as "El Maestro". In Ventura, California, where he lives now, and to the contemporary art world that he is courting, he is an artist with a mission. But for Gutiérrez, the job is the same: to conserve, preserve and innovate, when necessary, generations' worth of wisdom and culture associated with the making of one thing that keeps everything interesting – colour.