User:Megalibrarygirl/Mel Casas

Melesio "Mel" Casas (November 24, 1929 - November 30, 2014) was a Chicano artist, activist, writer and teacher. He used visual statements, his sense of humor and love of puns to "address cultural stereotypes." His work has been collected by the San Antonio Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and nationally and internationally. He is best known for his series of large-scale paintings called "Humanscapes." Casas was also well-known as a writer and theorist. His "Brown Paper Report" is considered an important document of Chicano history. In his writing, he emphasized the importance of "self-determination" and equality for Chicanos/as. He is considered to be one of the important founders of the Chicano Arts movement. Casas felt that once artists had a fair chance to exhibit in the United States, then they would become part of "Americana."

Biography
Casas was born in El Paso, Texas to Mexican parents during the Great Depression. He grew up and lived in El Segundo Barrio. His father liked to draw and this influenced Casas to start drawing on his own. As a young man decided that he wanted to be a an artist. Casas felt that he had a good education in elementary school and junior high. He attended El Paso High School which he chose in order to get a better education. At the time, there were more Anglo students at El Paso High and Casas felt alienated from the other students because of his background and heavy Mexican accent. It was Casas' first encounter with discrimination. He graduated from high school in 1948. After graduating high school,Casas worked for Pacific Fruit Express, a railroad company, as an iceman. He also helped with his father's Swedish massage business located in downtown El Paso.

Later, Casas was called into the United States Army and his father insisted it was his duty to serve. Casas served in the Korean War from 1950-1953, where he was injured and subsequently returned to the United States. Casas was awarded a Purple Heart for bravery in the war.

Casas went to college using the G.I. Bill. First, he started to study psychology, due to practical considerations, but later changed to art and teaching. In college, he had a very strong background in classical art theory, drawing and painting. He received a BA in 1956 from Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso). Casas then received a MFA from the University of the Americas in Mexico City in 1958.

Casas received an all-level certificate to teach in Texas. He was considered by his students to be a "generous" teacher, helping to launch many young art careers. Casas tought art at Jefferson High School in El Paso, Texas for about three years. One of his students was Gaspar Enriquez.

Casas was an important part of the formation of the Chicano artist collective, Con Safo, which is Spanish slang for "I'm not responsible for this action even though I did it."  Con Safo was formed in the early 1970's, and included artists Kathy Vargas, César Martínez, Carmen Lomas Garza, Santa Barraza and Jesse Treviño. Casas was one of the original members, along with Felipe Reyes. At the time, he was working as the Chair of the Art Department at San Antonio College. Later, Casas became the president and spokesperson for the short-lived, but influential group. Being part of Con Safo helped his career and reputation as an artist. The exposure that Con Safo gave to its members allowed them to hold exhibitions funded by private individuals and institutions. Con Safo was considered influential and important to giving recognition to Chicano art.

Casas taught for 29 years at San Antonio College where he was Chair of the Art Department. Casas felt that he had the opportunity to teach a "very good cross-section of the city" which was something he enjoyed. Being the chair of the department, however, was stressful for Casas, since he was often on call. He retired in 1990. After retiring, Casas and his wife went to Italy, spending two years in Brandisi and two in Sicily.

Casas had a two year battle with cancer. He died in his home with his family and his wife of 35 years, Grace Casas. He and his wife had five children: Alfredo, Bruce, Ingrid Torres, Mike and Sonya.

Art
Casas was first recognized for his work in the abstract expressionist style which was considered "typical" for his time period in the United States. Casas recalls that eventually he felt that the abstract work was too "pretty" and it wasn't the right artistic language for him. After the mid 1960s he began to do more representational work. He was very interested in dealing with the objectification of women in media and "debunking" racial stereotypes.

His later work focused on Chicano issues and used clever word play mixed with imagery. He challenged stereotypes, especially with his "Humanscapes" series. The 153 paintings that make up the "Humanscape" series were inspired by originally from from a "glimpse of a drive-in movie screen." In this series, Casas focuses on imagery from popular culture and how these media images can and do affect viewers who Casas called voyeurs, instead. "Humanscapes" addresses various issues, such as Chicano politics and identity by using biting humor, pop culture and folk art. His incorporation of imagery from Mexican and Pre-Columbian iconography in conjunction with pop art was unique. His choice of subject matter, which satirized racism and may show sexualized nudes, was often considered to be "provocative." Casas felt that media, like television, movies and advertising had the power to change people and could be used to change them for the better. His paintings often reacted to these media types by using erotic themes to highlight the effect that media had on the viewer. The "Humanscapes" were generally painted on large-scale canvases, mimicking the drive-in movies that inspired them. The text chosen for many of the "Humanscapes" help create visual "conundrums" that are meant to allow the viewer to question and re-interpret the ideas that are juxaposed with the imagery. Earlier "Humanscapes" had limited palette choices, but later paintings had more colors and were rather vibrant. As Casas' paintings became more colorful, they also began to have a richer sense of satire and visual play.

Casas' humor occasionally got him into trouble. One year he was chosen as "Artist of the Year" by the San Antonio Art League, only to have his title revoked after three days. Casas had given a speech and he chose to talk about women in relation to culture and during the talk, he undressed a Barbie doll. The people watching the talk were very offended and he was no longer "Artist of the Year" afterwards.

As a fellow artist, he was good at asking critical questions of the work of others and encouraging them to submit their work to exhibitions and competitions.

In later years, he ceased exhibiting, but painted almost daily, even when he was battling cancer.

Quotes
"To me, being an outsider is the next thing to being an artist. I think we are lucky to be born outsiders. The other thing, however, is this. You think that, because you eat tortillas and you think in Spanish or in the Mexican tradition, you can identify yourself. I don't think it's quite true. First of all, because we use liquitex, and we use canvas, and we use stretcher boards. 'No usamos bastidores o manta.' So we are a mixture. So there is no sense in trying to say that we have that kind of purity. We are entirely different. We are neither Mexican nor Anglos. We are in between."

"Chicano Art is not Art for Art's Sake, but Art for Human Sake."

"I don't think we should break away from our tradition. We cannot deny it. It will tend to flavor, to color the way we think. I think linguistically and iconographically we will tend to mix the two. I have to my benefit that I can combine English and Spanish to give a more colorful expression than I would if I said it all in English or all in Spanish. The subtlety of the meanings, the syntax, or the pronunciation of the words give it something that is missing."

Read More
Casas, Mel. (6 May 1976). "Art on the Border." Lecture delivered at University of Texas at El Paso. El Paso, United States. Retrieved 7 April 2015.