| Click on Series to see Larger Images
Objects, Installations, Photographs, Kinetic Work; 1972 - 1979
Exhibition: The Disturbing Object, 1978
Exhibition: Poet and Audience, 1983
Exhibition: Five Cities; 1980
Crimson; 1983
Exhibition: The Oaxaca Series; 1984 - 1985
Exhibition: Reflections on the Life and Times of a Venetian Jewess; 1987
Exhibition: Aspectos de la vida nocturna en Tijuana, B.C./Aspects of Night
Life in Tijuana B.C; 1988 -1990
Exhibition: Problems and Marvelous Secrets of the Indies / Latin America;
1992 - 2006
Exhibition: Problems and Marvelous Secrets of the Indies / Latin America;
1992 - 2006
Exhibition: Problems and Marvelous Secrets of the Indies / Black Hills;
1992 - 2006
Exhibition: Problems and Marvelous Secrets of the Indies / Southern
California; 1992 - 2006
Exhibition: Problems and Marvelous Secrets of the Indies / Southern
California; 1992 - 2006
Exhibition: Problems and Marvelous Secrets of the Indies / Southern
California; 1992 - 2006
|
 Raul Guerrero has been an important presence on the Southern California art scene-particularly in the San Diego/Tijuana region-- for more than thirty years. Making paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs, and videotapes, he has forged an expansive, ever-evolving vision-one that combines technical innovation with symbolic power.
Guerrero: Beguiling, Baffling: Los Angeles Times, October 1986 by Kristine McKenna
Although his style ranges from early conceptually based abstraction to recent narrative realism, Guerrero’s self-described “search for the poetry of life” is a constant in all of this work. Traveling and reading voraciously, Guerrero continually engages the histories of culture in the United States, Latin America, and Europe, culling images and ideas for his art.
Raúl Guerrero at Lake Xochimilco in Mexico City (1993).
Guerrero’s earliest work reflects his experience at the Chouinard Art Institute (now the California Institute of the Arts) in Los Angeles, a dynamic school that encouraged diverse perspectives. At Chouinard, inspired by socially engaged Pop Art and movements emphasizing language and the unconscious such as Dada, Surrealism, and California Funk Art, Guerrero used photography and unconventional sculptural materials to explore the boundaries of art and his own identity.
By various accounts, Guerrero is an elitist, late of the school of Paris and a disciple of the Dadaist Many Ray; he's political, a Chicano activist excavating the olmec roots of his consciousness; he's the Prince of Oaxaca, a peripheral figure in the L.A. pop scene; he's a conceptual artist, a California surrealist; he's an ironist, a constructivist, a Jungian, a comedian. ARTWEEK, December 1986 by Michael McManus
Rotating Yaqui Mask (1973), a mask made by Yaqui Indians native to northern Mexico attached to an electric motor, reflect the freewheeling, hybrid spirit defining Guerrero’s work in the 1970’s. the artist, who is Mexican-American and part Tarahumara and Yaqui Indian, uses contemporary electrical machinery to reanimate the mask, which he imagines was once worn in a ritual dance.
In the 1980’s, Guerrero shifted his focus from intellectual experimentation to a more emotional, allegorical style, creating numerous paintings incorporating text and found objects, as well as prints and artist’s books, many containing his own writings. In 1984, the artist, always an accomplished draftsman, decide to master a traditional, representational mode and spent six months in Oaxaca, Mexico, teaching himself the principles of oil painting. Through this medium, Guerrero expanded his ability to communicate his views of the world and to create complex symbolic images.
The extended series, “Aspectos de la vida nocturna de Tijuana, B.C./ Aspects of the Nightlife of Tijuana, Baja California,” begun in 1989, best represents the documentary strain in Guerrero’s work. Aware that Tijuana’s La Coahuila red light district would likely change dramatically as the city grew more prosperous, the artist set out to depict whet he calls “the unique history, textures, and colors” of its bars and dance halls. Like a modern-day Toulouse Lautrec, Guerrero roamed La Coahuila capturing the drinkers, dancers, johns, and prostitutes in quick sketches that he later transformed into paintings celebrating the district’s lurid excitement.
By the early 1990’s, Guerrero had moved to blending observed and invented imager, creating allegories of the history of the Americas. The Black Hills of Dakota (1992), an image of one car jump-starting another in a desolate landscape underneath a cloud formation resembling a her os stampeding buffalo, commemorates a chance meeting with two Native American women and their children near the site of the Wounded Knee massacre on a driving trip through South Dakota. The 1995 series “The Conquest of the Americas,” recounts the six major Spanish expeditions in the America in the 16th century by overlaying an image of Spanish painter Diego Velasquez’s famous Venus of the Mirror (1649-51)--a female nude that Guerrero believes symbolizes the hubris of the Spanish empire at its apex- with the maps and traveling impressions of the colonizers as well as imagery of indigenous peoples.
Other recent works use imagery drawn from cinema to comment on society. Petroleo en Nica/Oil in Nicaragua (1993) conceives of the dramatic 1990 election in Nicaragua-- which Guerrero observed with a group of actors and musician from the United States--as a B-movie, complete with a “grand constellation of stars.” including Daniel Ortega, Violeta Chamorro, Bianca Jagger, and Jackson Brown. And Poco a poquito/Little by Little (1993) re-envisions a well-known 1940 painting of a romantic couple by Mexican painter Jesus Helguera as the closing credits for an imaginary film, creating a sentimental memorial for an idea of Mexican culture, which--if it ever really existed-- is being eroded by the inexorable Americanization of the country.Most recently, the 12 painting work Calles de Mexico/streets of Mexico City (1993-1998) places Guerrero’s experiences and acquaintances in the metropolis within a grand history. Each given a different volume or tomo number, the individual images represent location along the city’s main street, the Paseo de la Reforma. In the series, historic figures such as as photographer Tina Modotti and comic actor Cantinflas coexist with U.S. tourist and cab drivers to create a dreamlike vision of the life of the second largest city in the world.
Guerrero’s search for images, ideas , and experiences has taken him to among countless other places, Managua, Madrid, Berlin, Tangiers, and an Iowa farmstead, An unreformed romantic, he instinctively seeks out the beautiful, the dramatic, and the tragic, stating, “Hatred, passion, love a city, a continent- these may all be seen as iconic art objects.” Like the 15th century Spanish explorer, Juan de Cardenas, Guerrero is an explorer. But the territory he explores is largely intangible. It is the tumult of history and culture clashes that have shaped the Americas and the globe during the 500 years since Columbus. The problems and marvelous secrets Guerrero reveals to us are our own.Written by Toby Kamps
Assistant Curator
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
Education
Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles, California, BFA, 1970
Selected Reviews
1974 -1980
1981-1984
1985-1990
1991-1995
1995 - Present
Solo Exhibitions
2006 Billy Shire Fine Arts, Culver City, CA
2005 Galleria Ninapi, Ravenna, Italy
2004 Galleria Ninapi, Ravenna, Italy
2002 Raul Guerrero: Drawings Sculpture Prints, Hybrid Gallery, San Diego, CA
2001 Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, La Jolla, CA
Cerritos College Art Gallery, Norwalk, CA
1999 Molly Barnes Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1998 Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Porter Troupe Gallery, San Diego, CA
1995 Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA
Linda Moore Gallery, San Diego, CA
1994 Gallery 3770 Park Boulevard, San Diego, CA
1993 Linda Moore Gallery, San Diego, CA
1991 David Zapf Gallery, San Diego, CA
David Lewinson Gallery, San Diego, CA
1989 David Zapf Gallery, San Diego, CA
Saxon-Lee Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Conlon-Moreno Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1988 Saxon-Lee Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
David Zapf Gallery, San Diego, CA
1987 Saxon-Lee Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1986 Boehm Gallery, Palomar Gallery, San Diego, CA
USC Atelier, Santa Monica, CA
1985 Richard Kuhlenschmidt Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1984 Patty Aande Gallery, San Diego, CA
Richard Kuhlenschmidt Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Barbara Braathen Gallery, New York, NY
1982 Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, CA
Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA
1981 Quint Gallery, La Jolla, CA
1979 Libra Gallery, Claremont Graduate School, CA
1978 Thomas/Lewallen Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1977 Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
1974 Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2006 Strange New World: Art and Design from Tijuana, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
2005 Painted Ladies, Cannon Art Gallery, City of Carlsbad
2004 Lateral Thinking: Art of the 1990’s, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio
Lateral Thinking: Art of the 1990’s, Hood Museum, Dartmouth University
Hanover, New Hampshire-Hombres; Patricia Correia Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2002-2003 Lateral Thinking: Art of the 1990’s’, Colorado Spring Fine Arts Center,
2002- 2005 Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge;
Traveling exhibition: San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas,
Smithsonian Institution's Arts and Industries Building, Washington D. C.; El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, Texas; Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis, IN; San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA; St. Louis Science Center, St. Louis, MO; Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Chicago, IL; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA. Etc. Etc.
2002 "SD'80," Work by 12 artists, Flux Gallery, San Diego, CA
The 3rd Annual Invitational Drawing Show, Earl & Birdie Taylor Library,San Diego, CA
2001 Lateral Thinking: Art of the 1990’s, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
2000 Made in California: Art, Image, and Identity, 1900-2000
Los Angeles, County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
1998 Rosamund Felsen Gallery, “Chairs, Plazas, Faces, Gardens,
Rooms: Paintings by Robert Burtis, Raul Guerrero, Thomas Lawson,William Leavitt, Margaret von Biesen, Curated by William Leavitt”,
Los Angeles, CA
1997 Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, “Primarily Paint”,
San Diego, CA
1996 Galleria Spagnolo, “Violencia”, San Diego, CA
1995 Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, “Common Ground / A Regional Exhibition”, San Diego, CA
-Gallery 3770 Park Boulevard, “An exhibition by Raul Guerrero, William
Leavitt, Allen Ruppersberg”, San Diego, CA
1994-Iturralde Gallery, “La Loteria”, Los Angeles, CA
-Terrain, “Land”, San Francisco, CA
-Museum of Modern Art, “Xicano Ricorso: A Thirty Year Retrospect from Aztlan”, New York, NY. Catalogue
-San Jose Museum of Art, “La Frontera/The Border: Art About the
1994 -Mexico/United States Border Experience”, San Jose, CA
-Neuberger Museum of Art, “La Frontera”, SUNY, NY
-Scottsdale Center for the Arts, “La Frontera”, Scottsdale, AZ
-Frontera/The Border: Art About the Mexico/United States Border
1993 -Museum of Contemporary Art/Centro Cultural de la Raza, “La
-Experience”, San Diego, CA
-Centro Cultural Tijuana, “La Frontera”, Tijuana, BC Mex.
-Tacoma Art Museum, “La Frontera”, Tacoma, WA
1992 The Oakland Museum, “From the Studio: Recent Painting and
Sculpture by 20 California Artists”, Oakland, CA
1990 -David Zapf Gallery, “Gallery Artists 1990”, San Diego, CA
Daniel Saxon Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
-Rivikin Gallery, “Border Issues”, Lancaster, OH
1989 La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, “Lannan Acquisitions”,
La Jolla, CA
1987 Phoenix Biennale, Phoenix, AZ
1985 -Museum of Natural History, “The Eclectic Cat”, San Diego, CA
-L.A.V.A. Landscape Exhibition, “To the Astonishing Horizons”,
-Curator: Peter Frank, Los Angeles, CA
-La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, “A San Diego Exhibition:
Forty-Two Emerging Artists”, San Diego, CA
1984-Patty Aande Gallery, “Significant Others”, San Diego, CA
-Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, “Emblem”, Los Angeles, CA
-Richard Kuhlenschmidt Gallery, “Group Show”, Los Angeles, CA
-Patty Aande Gallery, “Drawings”, San Diego, CA
1979-“Second Annual Tokyo Festival”, Tokyo, Japan
-Security Pacific Bank, “Photographic Directions”, Los Angeles, CA
-P.S. 1, “Invitational Photography Exhibition”, New York, NY
1978-Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY
-“Sculpture ‘78: Los Angeles Street Scene”, Los Angeles, CA
-Cameraworks Gallery, “Contemporary California Photography”,
San Francisco, CA
1977-Morgan Thomas, “Raul Guerrero and Doug Metzler”, Santa Monica, CA
-Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, “100 + Current Directions in
Southern California”, Los Angeles, CA
1977 -San Francisco Art Institute Gallery, “L.A.”, San Francisco, CA
-College of Creative Studies Gallery, University of California,
“Photographs by Southern California Painters and Sculptors”,
Santa Barbara, CA
1976-Santa Monica College Art Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1975-Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1974 San Jose State University Art Gallery, “Raul Guerrero and Lyn Horton”,
1975 San Jose, CA
PUBLIC ART PROJECTS
2000 Maiastra Fountain, Golden Springs Development Co. Santa Fe Springs, CA
1999 Balboa Park Activity Center, San Diego, CA Rob Quigley, Architect
1994 Sherman Heights Community Center, San Diego, CA Rob Quigley, Architect
1993 Community Redevelopment Agency for the City of Los Angeles, Grand Hope Park, Lawrence Halprin, Landscape Architect
1997 City of Carlsbad, CA
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
Phoenix Museum of Art, Phoenix, AZ
San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA
Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA
Security Pacific Bank, Los Angeles, CA
LECTURES/ INTERVIEWS
2001 The Los Angeles Art Scene: 60’s-70’s
San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park
San Diego, CA, March
1998 Raul Guerrero, Otis Art School, Los Angeles, CA
1995 Raul Guerrero, USC Art Department, Los Angeles, CA
|
