About the artist:

Manuel Guerrero Mora was born in Pasto, Colombia in 1947. At the age of 10, his artistic education began at the School of Arts at the University of Nariño. Eight years later, he moved to Bogota, worked in creative retail display and continued figurative painting. 1969 marked the year of Manuel Guerrero Mora’s first individual exposition, at the Turantioquia Gallery in Medellin. During the next five years, he taught graphic design at the Superior Academy of Arts while continuing to refine his own art. By the mid 1970s, Manuel Guerrero Mora moved to Cali to completely immerse himself in his art. This marked the period where the work, including his cognitive processes, became more and more abstract. By the late 1970s, Manuel Guerrero Mora returned to Pasto; his art and reputation became more widespread, resulting in expositions in Ecuador (Quito and Cuenca), and Colombia (Pasto, Bogota, Cali and Medellin). His work was inspired by many different muses and this resulted in the classification of his art into several different thematic series: Sur (South), based on landscapes of the majestic Andes mountains; Tropico (Tropics), inspired by the Amazonian rainforest and the Pacific regions; Exodo (Exodus) and Laberinto (Labyrinth), both deeply influenced by the tenuous social situation of Colombia. This passion has led to the artist's continued involvement in socio-cultural and civic programs throughout his country. Notable examples have been his involvement in the state of Nariño’s turn of the century movement to reduce analphabetism as well as the Alliance for Communication and Culture of Nariño, co-sponsored by United Nations Program for Development (PNUD) and the Nariño Department of Education. In addition, the artist’s enthusiasm with video and cinematography has resulted in the production of some three dozen cultural documentaries featuring his home country. In 2005, Manuel Guerrero Mora was officially decorated by the Colombian Senate for his continued artistic and cultural achievements. In 1996, Manuel Guerrero Mora traveled to Europe to showcase his work. This ultimately led to numerous exhibitions in France (Andrée Macé Gallery - Paris 2003, Etienne de Causans Gallery - Paris 2006 and Abbaye de Trizay - La Rochelle 2007), as well as the earlier exhibition at the Galerie Wind, Soest (Netherlands). At present, the artist divides his time between workshops in Paris and Chicago as well as his native Pasto. The cities that he has visited have resulted in a new body of work and corresponding series, Vertico/Horizonto (Vertical/Horizontal), initially inspired by the culture and architecture of Chicago, Illinois. Only one thing is certain in all art and that is change, not in the underlying emotion and passion, but in its embodiment. To that end, Manuel Guerrero Mora has delved into mixed media and light boxes.