Louise Nevelson

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Pedro E. Guerrero's birth, the Edward Cella Art & Architecture Gallery presents the "Guerrero, Calder & Nevelson, In Their Studios" on view through March 4, 2017, at 274 S. La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles. This exhibit highlights, for the first time, Guerrero's intimate documentation of Alexander Calder and Louise Nevelson in their homes and studios.  This is just one of many gallery and museum shows that will take place in 2017 honoring Guerrero in this landmark year. For more information call 323-525-0053. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm.

(Los Angeles) Edward Cella is pleased to announce a special exhibition of the photographs of Pedro E. Guerrero.  Presented in conjunction with the national television debut of documentary American Masters: Pedro E. Guerrero: A Photographer’s Journey on PBS, the exhibition will present a focused selection of the photography’s most iconic images. Born in 1917 in Casa Grande, Arizona, Guerrero attended Art Center School in Los Angeles and shortly thereafter became one of the principal photographers for Frank Lloyd Wright.  Over his seven-decade-long career, Guerrero photographed buildings by many of America’s most important modern architects, including, Marcel Breuer, Philip Johnson, Edward Durell Stone, and Eero Saarinen.  Guerrero’s photographs have appeared in countless American and foreign magazines including the New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Architectural Record and House and Garden.  He has also contributed photographs to dozens of books on Wright in addition to publications on Alexander Calder and Louise Nevelson. Guerrero’s photographs have been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States and Europe, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art.  Guerrero died at the age of ninety-five in 2012. The documentary, American Masters: Pedro E. Guerrero: A Photographer’s Journey premieres on Friday, September 18, 9-10 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) Discover the remarkable life and work of Pedro E. Guerrero, a Mexican American born and raised in segregated Mesa, Arizona, who had an extraordinary, international photography career. Using Guerrero’s words and images, the program explores his collaborations with three of the most iconic American artists of the 20th century: Frank Lloyd Wright and sculptors Alexander Calder and Louise Nevelson. This film is a special co-presentation with VOCES.

I wrote the following essay a few years ago for a limited edition book of photographs by Pedro E. Guerrero, put out by Cattletrack Press in Scottsdale. The publication was designed to celebrate not only Guerrero’s scintillating talent, but also his improbable success as the son of a sign painter from Mesa, whose grandparents were Mexican immigrants. Born in Casa Grande in 1917, Guerrero still remembers the humiliating notices prohibiting Mexicans from using public swimming pools in his neighborhood. Read full article HERE.

Pedro E. Guerrero, one of the greatest photographers of 20th century, was born in 1917, which makes him somewhere around 95 years old. Which is another excellent reason that if you're anywhere near Los Angeles on April 5th, you make your way to LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions), 6522 Hollywood Boulevard, where at 6:30 p.m., Pedro E. Guerrero is scheduled to talk about his work at the opening of a new exhibition, Pedro E. Guerrero: Photographs of Modern Life, which runs only through April 25th Read full article HERE.

He walked along Fifth Avenue with Frank Lloyd Wright, shared cocktails with Alexander Calder and drank tea with Louise Nevelson. Now, Princeton Architectural Press publishes the story of photographer Pedro E. Guerrero, a Mexican-American who never thought the life he describes in his memoir, Pedro E. Guerrero: A Photographer’s Journey ($55), could happen to him. “Nothing in my background offered me hope that someday I would do something significant,” Guerrero says. “But Mr. Wright saw promise in me and offered me a job. … It changed my life forever.” Read full article HERE.

Fans of American architecture will gather later this month at downtown's Millennium Biltmore for a conference dedicated to Frank Lloyd Wright's work in Los Angeles. The five-day event features tours, lectures and a gala dinner to celebrate one of the world's most influential architects. Likely overlooked in all of that, though, will be a man whose presence in Wright's story makes him a real-life counterpart to Woody Allen's cinematic chameleon, Leonard Zelig. His name is Pedro E. Guerrero, though friends call him Pete. The photographer documented Wright and his work for two decades. He also chronicled the lives of art-world greats Alexander Calder and Louise Nevelson, among others. And yet he remains a shadow figure who, at 88, looks back with surprise and gratitude on a career that enabled him to forge unlikely friendships with at least three of the 20th century's creative giants. Read full article HERE.