Art show in El Paso to highlight printmakers' work from Borderland and around the world
Manuel Guerra is working to keep traditional printmaking alive, helping mentor the current generation of El Paso artists.
On May 19, Borderland residents can join the University of Texas at El Paso professor in his mission.
That evening, from 6:30 to 10, Guerra will be presenting “The 8 x 8 Part II” exhibit at Alameda Art & Salvage, 3109 Alameda Ave. There will be an opening reception.
The exhibit’s name stems from the 7-inch-by-7-inch images that are produced on 8-inch-by-8-inch paper.
It will run through June 3 and will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays but will be closed Sundays through Tuesdays.
The goal of the show is to have artists and printmakers supporting one another so printmaking survives and can prosper, Guerra said.
The works will include “local 915 artists,” but “is open to artists/printmakers worldwide,” he said.
“The countries represented are … the United States, Mexico, Australia; we got the UK involved as well,” Guerra said.
“But we’ve still got submissions coming all the way until the beginning of May.”
The deadline to submit is Saturday. Artists who want to enter can visit hornedtoadprints on Instagram for more information.
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Guerra said: “The last 8 X 8, we had 100 pieces. Currently, we have over 70 pieces.
“It is an open theme,” he said. “It is, again, having the artists come out and give it their best shot.”
Guerra added: “It is open to the public. It’s free, but to submit a print we are asking a donation of $25. And again, it is an edition of two. The first piece will be ... for archive, travel and educational purposes, and the second print is … for immediate sales.”
Participating artists paid the $25 via PayPal, which covered a frame, shipping, exhibition materials and promotion, but entry to the exhibit will be free.
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The exhibit will offer collectors a bargain entry into collecting.
“All (U.S.) prints will be $50,” Guerra said. “All proceeds will go directly to the artist.
International prints will be priced from $75 to $100.
The exhibit space is next to Guerra’s Horned Toad Prints studio, 3107 Alameda Ave., in South-Central El Paso.
The show specifically will feature prints made through the hand-pulled process, which means each print is produced one at a time, by hand, and that no mechanized processes other than the printing press are used in the production. Intaglio, lithography, relief, letterpress and serigraphy works, or a combination of the methods, will be on display, but digital works won’t be accepted.
Artist's roots are in the Borderland
Guerra’s roots are firmly in the Borderland, where he shares his love of art at UTEP.
“I’ve been there for 27 years, going on 28. I teach foundation courses in drawings, life drawing and printmaking,” he said.
“I was born and raised here in El Paso, did my graduate studies in Albany, New York, at the State University of New York at Albany. This was my Master in Fine Arts.
“I got my Bachelor of Fine Arts here at UTEP, but I also attended El Paso Community College,” he said.
“And, you know, a lot of my ideas come from nightmares and relationships, occasions, pretty much from my hometown, El Paso.”
While in the past he has done outreach at EPCC, he said, “it has been some time since I have done that. Right now, Marco Sanchez is actually teaching at EPCC.”
He said Sanchez “is one of our good friends and he does come here every so often to drop off prints or pick up prints.”
Guerra makes his printmaking studio available to local artists.
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“I don’t rent it out,” he said. “Pretty much I’m here all the time taking care of my investment.
“I ask for a donation,” he said. “I’m not here to make money. I’m really like a kid. I like to look at when people are doing their prints. It’s like Christmas: You open your present and you don’t know what to expect from printing.”
He added: “I’d like to just say what we do here … is to keep the spirit of printmaking alive. There’s a lot of things going on, and technology is moving so fast. … Everything that we do here is hand-pulled prints.”
Despite his dedication to tradition, Guerra also understands and appreciates the interest in newer printmaking methods, including laser cuts.
“It is a tool,” he said. “I have used laser cuts for … certain things, and again it’s a tool that we … have to allow it to come in. We have to experiment. If Leonardo da Vinci were here, he’d be experimenting with it, too.”
Guerra conducts workshops in the community that are independent of his work at UTEP: He finds mentoring local artists fulfilling.
“Yes, I do, I like to work with people,” he said. “Ever since I have been working from the university, I like to work outside of the university. I give workshops to children, teenagers, adults; I really like working with people.”
Guerra is often mentioned in El Paso artists’ social media posts, who thank him for his mentorship and generosity in sharing his talent, knowledge and studio.
“I’m thankful, I really am, but I don’t carry a high tone. It’s really about them,” he said.
“And I like to give people the opportunity, but I am thankful that they think of me.”
In turn, he admires the work of other El Paso artists.
“There’s a good friend of mine, Francisco Delgado, another one is Raul Monarres; both of them are high school teachers that have actually been my press assistants and have carried, again, what we call the gospel, up to the schools, the school systems,” he said. “There is this young artist; his name is Mario Perez ‒ really, really good artist, great printmaker.
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He added that there are students at UTEP who also are developing into strong artists.
Despite his role in El Paso printmaking, Guerra tends to return to his first love.
“I draw,” he said. “I draw a lot. I draw every day and I try to print as much as I can whenever I have the time available.
“The university takes the majority of my time, so I’m usually in here printing on Fridays and Saturdays,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it’s not my work,” he said. “It’s more … people that want to come in and actually do a print here (at Horned Toad Prints studio).”
Guerra’s passion for art and printmaking is a family trait.
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“My dad’s name is Calixto Manuel Guerra,” he said. “My dad is 78 years old.”
Guerra added: “My dad is one of my greatest heroes and one of the best artists that I look at. He’s very motivated. He paints every day, draws every day, from the figure. Gets up by at least 4 in the morning and starts either cranking out three paintings or doing pastel works on the figure.
“He’s widely known around El Paso. Hangs out at the El Paso Art Junction and attends a lot of the life-drawing sections around town.”
During a recent interview at his studio, Guerra admitted it took him a while longer to find his love for printmaking, even though his mother Martha Guerra owned H&A Printing.
“Just right across the street was my mother’s shop for about 40 years,” he said. “She was a commercial printer. I never really got involved in printmaking until I went to UTEP and studied under Professor Kim Bauer, who is my friend and mentor.”
When his mother closed her printshop, she told Guerra he could have her printing presses.
Initially, he declined.
But now, the equipment from her shop has found new purpose in his studio, helping some of El Paso’s most creative minds bring their creations to fruition.
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This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Art show in El Paso to highlight printmakers' work from around world
