Mixed Media, Aluminum

Colorful mixed media collage by contemporary Houston, TX artist Michael Macedo Meazell. Taking about six months per piece, Meazell creates digital collages from scans of found objects and then prints them onto large-scale aluminum panels. Once printed, Meazell adds colorful splotches of paint to add another layer of depth. Meazell enjoys merging modern materials with classic memorabilia, such as cigar boxes, maps, and and kitschy 1960's magazines. The piece is currently mounted onto a simple black frame with D-ring hangers.

"I have made art for as long as I can remember. When I was in high school in Beaumont, Texas, I would draw constantly. During high school, I took classes in painting, drawing, and design at the Beaumont Art Studio, Beaumont Art League, and the Art Institute of Houston. During the mid to late 1980s, I studied art, concentrating on design, drawing, sculpture, and painting at Lamar University and the MFAH Glassell School of Art on a scholarship. After leaving school I worked on the installation crew at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. That was a great time, because I was working with some talented people who are still making art today – David McGee and Tierney Malone to name a couple. While I was there, I learned museum quality handling of art and installations. I began making art with found materials while attending Lamar University, mostly wall-dependent works and collage from found wood, fabric, paper, and paint. I have always been a scavenger, partly because I never had much money and partly because it is a medium that I identify with. I continue working on assemblage and collage today, incorporating drawing, painting, printmaking, and traditional sculpture techniques into my pieces, often using objects that have a storied history to myself or others. I incorporate objects from others in my own work and for commissioned works of art. I worked at Judy Youens Gallery from 1990-1993, doing whatever needed to be done. She specialized in glass, so I became an expert in handling fragile works of art, which included installing them, building custom crates, and preparing them for shipping. While at the gallery I was also on the Art League and Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts boards. I designed, curated, and installed over 100 exhibitions though the 90s. I studied with a master carpenter from 1994-1999 and learned how to use a variety of hand and power tools, sourcing material, building techniques, as well as repurposing and fixing just about anything. This has served me well. Combining my art and design skills with my new building skills, I designed dozens of home remodels from single rooms and outdoor deck tops and complete homes from the ground up. I still do design work and consultations. I served on the Art League of Houston Board of Directors from 1991-1994, where I was president of the Artist Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. In 1997 I moved into an empty shell of a warehouse and immediately finished out the space with a large studio, kitchen, full bath, and bedroom loft. My Barnes Street Studio was next door to artist Harvey Bott. I stayed there 11 years creating art, running a small stretcher manufacturing business, giving private art lessons and employing several studio assistants who have all gone on to great careers. While on the DiverseWorks Board of Directors from 1996-2010, I co-founded a young professionals group call DW3 which focused on art tours and events related to various exhibitions. I spun that off to form my own nonprofit, The Arts Initiative, from 2006-2010, for which I organized dinners, lectures, and out of town trips that emphasized connecting new-to-the-scene art-savvy members to exhibitions and performances by non-profit arts organizations and galleries. Some other boards I have served on include those of the New World Museum and Inner Corridor Arts. I have served on many committees for organizations including Lawndale Art Center, Houston Arts Alliance, Art Colony Association, and the Warhol Foundation, to name a few. In 2007 I moved to the First Ward and started remodeling the house my grandparents built for my maternal great grandmother as well as a warehouse my father built. After my father passed in late 2012, I started the next phase of my arts compound by repurposing an old carport into a new studio and finishing out a guest artist's studio and showroom. Plans also call for an Airstream trailer guest house on the property too. When I am not making art, I am designing and building things, gardening, and cooking and collaborating with chef friends. It’s all part of the creative process that is the major driving force in my life."

H 44 in. x W 32.75 in. x D 2.13 in.