Raul Guerrero at David Kordansky

For over four decades, Guerrero has made work informed by his experiences navigating cultures as an American of Mexican ancestry in Southern California. The paintings on view in this presentation address the settlement of Southern California and the American Southwest, both in a historic and contemporary context, through painterly depictions of popular imagery and media. Characterized by visual elements pulled from primary sources such as modern Mexican cinema, European art-historical imagery, and Spanish Golden Age literature, his compositions are remixed and annotated to evoke the shifting realities excavated from intricate, colonial histories of Western regional places of interest to Guerrero. Through this process of sourcing, Guerrero utilizes these cultural signifiers and etymological strategies as a method of understanding personal concepts of self.

Raul Guerrero (b. 1945, Brawley, California) will present his first solo show at David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, in July 2021. Previous solo exhibitions include Ortuzar Projects, New York (2018); Air de Paris (project space), Romainville, France (2014); Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, San Diego, California (2001, 2007, and 2013); CUE Art Foundation, New York (2010); Long Beach Museum of Art, California (1977); and San Francisco Art Institute, California (1977). In 1989, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, California, presented a retrospective exhibition of his work. Guerrero has been the recipient of an NEA Photography Fellowship (1979) and the San Diego Art Prize (2006). Guerrero lives and works in San Diego, California.