Manuel Guerra grew up in a pre-dominantly Mexican-American housing project in El Paso, Texas. A contemporary artist who mixes memory and Meso-American mythology to produce exquisite traditional renderings of hilarious caricatures and lampoons, Manuel creates narratives as a means of drawing the inside out. Educated at El Paso Community College (Associates Art/Drawing), University of Texas-El Paso (BFA Drawing/Printmaking), and The State of University of New York at Albany (MFA Drawing/Printmaking), he now teaches foundation and drawing courses at UT-El Paso.

Manteca de Cacao Quemada is an operatic drama- where a bosch-like drunken world of elliptical figures are goaded into a macabre dance by the sounds of a pulsating Tejano band. The light is harsh, undeniable ugliness. Ugliness however, can cling to you even after the images grow dim.

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