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People in the Arts [[3 columns]] [[column 1]] MEL Casas by Ruben R. Pena "Beauty is a by-product of art. When you start with the concept of beauty you are nothing more than a decorator." Mel Casas is many things but a decorator he is not. His six by eight foot paintings, "human-scapes" as he refers to them, do little to sooth the eye of the cognoscenti. Rather he challenges the viewer to enter his "human-scape" to pause, to grapple and to confront ourselves with those things that compel us in our daily lives, our values. If for no other reason this makes Mel Casas a "dangerous" individual. But this is getting ahead of our story, for Mel Casas is one of those rare individuals who have "seen" their own death, has made peace with it and as a result fame and fortune have little or no value for him; they are simply things which he can accept but which he does not seek. Born in El Paso, Texas in late 1920's Mel Casas grew up in the Segundo Barrio (the second barrio). El Paso is a curious anomaly. No one born in El Paso considers themselves Texan, Mexican, or even American, just El Pasoan. Considering the historical development of that city, its distance from any seat of government and its geographic location (situated on the border with Mexico and New Mexico) it is not difficult to understand the strong individualistic strain that imbues the people of El Paso. As the eldest son there were certain things that were expected from him. "My father spoke seven languages and did translations, work which I helped him do. In El Paso everyone spoke English AND Spanish. Anglos and Chicanos spoke both languages, so it was difficult to adjust when I arrived in San Antonio where English was the predominant and preferred language." Mel Casas probably never adjusted to anything. Viewed as a radical because of his involvement in the Chicano movement of the 60's and 70's Casas was blackballed and had difficulty in obtaining steady employment. But movements have a way of burning people out, of exhausting their energy and as a result most return to an acceptable way of life. But Mel Casas is today [[/column 1] [[column 2]] [[image - photograph of Mel Casas]] more radical than ever. ON CULTURE: "When you are born into a culture you are born into ready made solutions. As a result we never self-actualize ourselves, we are content to play the game by the established rules. If however you question the values of the system you become marginal, you are cast outside the system." No one likes to be made uncomfortable by having to question the very basis of their existence, of the reason for being, but Mel Casas poses just such questions in his art and in his presence. Mel Casas recalls the days of the "movement" and notes that the marches, the rallys were all "acts of desperation". "When you are powerless the only thing you can put on the line is your life. Once Chicanos adjust and accomodate themselves to the system, once we get a piece of the pie the struggle ceases, and that is too bad because we tend to forget those who came before us, those who had to pay the price." In the long run Casas believes that the clash between Latinos and Anglos is a confrontation of language and culture and not of race. "The Greeks had a far superior civilization to that of the Romans, but they were conquered by the Romans. It is the group which dominates that determines what culture is or is not." ON ART: Speaking with Mel Casas one quickly realizes that his art work is unique, it is not the kind of art that attracts buyers but it does command attention. He does not criticize the impressionist and his "bluebonnets", rather he criticizes a culture and a people who are content to buy things, who make art an object to be purchased and later discarded as one would discard old clothes. An individual's taste in art, Casas contends, makes a [[/column 2]] [[column 2]] "When you are powerless the only thing you can put on the line is your life." ------ statement about the individual's own personal value system. Thus most people prefer art that is recognizable because it reflects something that they feel comfortable with, something that will not cause any disturbance to their value equilibrium. "But I paint out of history, not within it. So long as you are in history you are in a particular school of art." Mel Casas is not hampered with the weight of being classified as a period painter, nor is he concerned with being true to any "school" of art, instead Casas paints for all times, yesterday, today as well as for tomorrow. Casas' works thus shall never become what he despises the most: a commodity. Casas pointedly states that he deals with ideas and data and not information. Information according to him is history that has been processed, data and ideas are fresh and unprocessed. "I'm not moved by technique at all. You hear people say, 'Look at that painting it looks so rea'. People are so overwhelmed with the technique that they lose the message." The Korean war veteran's paintings do not leave anyone unequivocal. You are moved either to admiration or disgust, to intense attention that shocks the sensibilities or simple revulsion. There is no middle ground in Mel Casas' art work, just as there is no middle ground in Mel Casas the individual. ON SOCIETY: Mel Casas is more than an artist, he is a philosopher as well as a psychologist. And like any true artist he is moved not out of a simple desire to paint for its own sake but out of the need to reflect on what he sees in his artist's eye. Thus, he notes that we live in a possessory society one that has its values based on an economic imperative. "Love, money and material things are all turned into objects that we seek to possess. Yet after we possess them we dispose of them. Look at old people, we send them to old people's homes, we discard them. When I grow old I hope they put me out to stud service." It is not difficult to understand then how Casas reaches a conclusion on society's perception of art; "it is something to be made into an object, a commodity." Yet through it all there is no animosity in Casas, on art or on society perhaps it is Continued on page 28 [[/column 3]] 15
