Raul Guerrero

Raul Guerrero has been an important presence on the Southern California art scene-particularly in the San Diego/Tijuana region-- for more than twenty 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. 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.

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.

Artist's website:
www.RaulGuerrero.com