BIO:

Brent Houzenga is New Orleans-based artist originally from Fulton, IL. Houzenga earned his B.A. in printmaking and graphic design from Western Illinois University and his MFA at the University of New Orleans in 2017. Houzenga's art has been exhibited all over the country and world, including Warsaw, Chicago, Kansas City, Washington D.C., Portland, Los Angeles, Austin, Miami, and New Orleans. Houzenga’s work resides in many private and public collections. He is an accomplished muralist, installation artist, and educator. 

Houzenga's work has been featured in publications such as Time Out Chicago, Art and Art Galleries of the South, Art+Design New Orleans, as well as the Rizzoli book Stickers: From Punk Rock to Contemporary Art. In 2021 his work appeared on the cover of the Image Comics book Primordial.  In 2024 his work appeared on the cover of the dreampunk anthology Somniscope published by Fractured Mirror. He is the subject of the independent documentary film Brent Houzenga: Hybrid Pioneer.

Statement:

For the last nineteen years my work has focused on painting found people from the 1890s. I found these photos in the trash. Although I don't know who these people are, they changed my life. Initially what they helped me understand is the finite time we have here on earth. Realizing that lit a fire underneath me and pushed me to go after what I love, using their visage as my symbol. Most of my work is somehow related to time, whether that be through the idea of time travel, ghosts, or the subjects, layers, and objects involved in my process. Some other influences found evident include punk rock, street art, comic books, mysticism and psychology. I'm interested in science, but I'm more interested in mad science and experimentation.

Portraying anonymous people in this pop aesthetic almost one hundred percent of the time urges viewers to ask “who is that?” which has led me to seek out stories I can actually tell. Some of these stories have come from local news and causes, historical figures associated with current events, and personal stories taken from my life or people I encounter. Synchronicity is very important to my navigation. Some figures who I believe were drawn to me over the last few years are: James Baldwin, Emmeline Pankhurst, Lucy Parsons, Frederick Douglass, George F Johnson, Thomas Garrett, Louise Michel, Edward Bellamy and Assata Shakur.

I’m interested in portraiture but I’m equally interested in abstraction and the space between representation and the void. My experimentations with process have led me to think about these two premises often: On the microscopic level, everything is made of energy. On the macroscopic level everything is stardust. My hope is to depict my figures as part of the cosmic consciousness.