Award winning artist, Jaime Guerrero featured at MACLA in San Jose

LOS ANGELES - June 3, 2015 - PRLog -- Artist Jaime Guerrero (http://www.guerreroglass.com/) uses the ancient craftsmanship of glass blowing to sculpt hot molten glass into intricate contemporary works for his latest exhibition, Breaking Point, (http://maclaarte.org/) a two-person show at San Jose’s MACLA/ Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana from June 5 - August 8, 2015 . The opening reception will be held June 5 from 6-11 pm, coinciding with the international Glass Art Society (GAS) 2015 Conference (http://www.glassart.org/_San_Jose.html) taking place in the heart of Silicon Valley June 5-7.

Guerrero’s delicate hand blown sculpted glass deer antlers recall early childhood hunting experiences as a rite of passage and the memories of a family trophy room.  “I question this type of ritual that has existed hundreds of years as a male entering into adulthood rite of passage initiation. Are these instinctual natural male bonding rituals that are born from an inert need to survive? Or do these rituals train us as young men to be dominant over nature?” says Guerrero whose installation of glass antlers and hemp rope also recalls the intrinsic spiritual quality, power and strength of antlers in indigenous cultures.

Glass sculpting over fire videos: http://www.guerreroglass.com/show-reel/

Guerrero was born in Los Angeles and received his BFA from the California College of the Arts. He studied with master artists including Checco Ongaro, Pino Signoretto and Ben Moore. Guerrero was a featured artist in the Mastercraft show at Gumps in San Francisco for five consecutive years and has received two Saxe Fellowship Awards (2006/2012) and the People's Choice Award (2012) through the Bay Area Glass Institute for his work "Charros y Sus Caballos", which was purchased by the Oakland Museum of California for its permanent collection. Guerrero has been featured in several publications, most recently in Glass Quarterly (Spring 2014). Currently, Guerrero is producing work that embodies the juxtaposition between ancient ideas and contemporary symbols.  www.guerreroglass.com

Breaking Point closes out MACLA’s 2014-15 season with glass art works by Guerrero and fellow artist Viviana Paredes. Glass, a medium valued for its visual and tactile qualities, is used inventively by these contemporary artists to provide clarity on contemporary social issues. Jaime Guerrero and Viviana Paredes use glass as a vehicle to explore and critique issues as diverse as the effects of over-hunting to the extinction of dialects and cultural customs. Though MACLA has previously exhibited these artists as well as other artists who work with glass, this is its first exhibition dedicated solely to the medium. Focused in scope, it illustrates the emergence of glass as a key medium in terms of visual activism, and its journey from purely decorative to exciting contemporary, abstract art.

San Jose’s MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana is an inclusive contemporary arts space grounded in the Chicano/Latino experience that incubates new visual, literary and performance art in order to engage people in civic dialogue and community transformation. www.maclaarte.org

Exhibition Opening:  Thursday, June 5, 6 p.m. – 11 pm.

MACLA Location: 510 South 1st Street, San Jose CA

Hours: Wednesday & Thursday: 12—7 p.m., Friday & Saturday: 12—5 p.m.

Admission: Free