Farm meets street art in Houzenga's new DMSC exhibit

Houzenga (Credit: Eric Rowley/Metromix)

An army of one.

More than just a military advertising slogan, it’s a mantra for Des Moines artist Brent Houzenga, whose mixed media exhibit “Me and My Army” opened this month at the Des Moines Social Club (DMSC).

An artist reception at 7 p.m. Sept. 12 celebrates the more than 100 pieces and installations Houzenga said were shaped by the ironies of his small-town upbringing.

“I’m a farm kid who loves rock 'n' roll,” said the Clinton native, raised in Fulton, Ill. Houzenga also spent his youth devouring comic books.

“I always thought was I going to be a comic book artist,” he said. “I would always get good feedback from my teachers, friends and family on my artwork and wanted to keep it up.”

Houzenga’s rural background and passion for pop culture followed him to Western Illinois University in Macomb, where he majored in art – “printmaking and graphic design” – and also studied music business. While Houzenga took to heart some lessons from those business classes – “how to market yourself, how to get yourself out into the community and not be afraid to let people know what you’re doing” – his discovery of one man’s trash ultimately turned into his treasure.

“I was out for a jog and looked down at someone’s trash bin, and I saw these photo albums,” Houzenga said. “They were full of pictures from the 1890s. My first thought was, ‘My mom would really love these.’ But the more I flipped through them, the more I was amazed that someone would throw them out.”

Rather than discard them for a second time, Houzenga embraced the photos, turning them into the project currently on display.

“I made stencils of them, then spray-painted them on windows,” Houzenga said, offering this as further evidence of his “rural heritage mixed with my love of street art. I made a few and really loved it, and as I made more, they’d get better, the style would continue to morph.”

As he continued crafting the multicolored portraits of stoic 19th-century faces, he realized that these pieces represented who he was and ideologies he loved.

“I grew up on a farm but as a young kid got into rock 'n' roll,” Houzenga said. “I’m taking techniques from street art, but I’m painting these people from the 1890s. I’ve always kind of felt that I’d like to live in those times, when you’d work for yourself and not for some big corporation; you’d make your own way.”

That do-it-yourself ethos is reflective of an individualism Houzenga espouses, recognizes and appreciates. “I feel like these pieces represent power for the people,” Houzenga said of his subjects. “It makes these people into icons, like everyone is meant to shine.”

Houzenga, whose art has been displayed from Los Angeles to Atlanta, shines via his month-long exhibit at the Des Moines Social Club. Zach Mannheimer, the venue’s executive director, praised Houzenga for his work.

“Brent’s insight and artistic talent have been utilized for every major event we have hosted and produced,” Mannheimer said.

Houzenga said that he’s “heard people describe (DMSC) as ‘a YMCA for the arts.’ But it’s more of a community house – it’s hosted plays, classes, pro wrestling, barn dances, art openings, stand-up comedy, music – so it’s really open for whatever the public would want to do.”

At Houzenga’s exhibit, Mannheimer expects to see “some of the most progressive art being created in the most nontraditional manner in the Midwest.”

According to Houzenga, attendees for the Sept. 12 artist reception should expect one thing: “sensory overload.” Visual and performance art combine to create a media mash-up: images projected behind live musical acts, large-scale murals looming, paint splashed on vehicles and fuzzy television screens, and Houzenga’s painted windows engulfing visitors.

“Hopefully people will come, see the art, and won’t think it’s crap,” Houzenga said. “Hopefully they’re inspired – that’s a big part of it for me, that people will see things like I do, like ‘Oh, that’s amazing,’ but they can do it, too.”

This show is the culmination of three years of artistic evolution and networking: Along with Houzenga’s pieces, local musical acts will be on display at Houzenga’s request, including Adam Robert Haug, Wet Chemistry, Johnny Scum, Beati Paoli, Aeon Grey and DJ Kelix Williams.

“As for the music, I want to expose people to local bands that I think are doing cool stuff,” Houzenga said.

In his three short years in Des Moines – he hitched a ride with a high school friend and hasn’t looked back – Houzenga has found a welcoming home for himself and his artwork.

“When I first came here, people took me in with open arms. They really embrace what I do. In fact, the day I moved here, I opened an exhibit at Mars Café,” Houzenga said. “My career as an artist wouldn’t exist without a few of the happenstance moments I’ve had. I helped start the Des Moines Social Club; I don’t have a title, but I play music there and help out with the art gallery. I go to concerts all the time. I love it here. I don’t see any reason why I’d leave.”

Houzenga also doesn’t see much reason for young Iowans to flee to larger cities.

“Iowa kind of has a complex, like, ‘Really, this is happening in Iowa?’ Yes, we’re doing cool, important things. And it’s only going to get better.”