Izel Vargas is a friend of mine from UNC.  He finished his MFA the year before I entered the program.  He’s a pretty rocking artist.  You can see some of his work here.

Izel does mixed-media work.  Most of his work that I know well is collage and plays a lot with Dora the Explorer, that intrepid icon of childhood television.  Izel grew up along the Mexico-Texas border, and his work is heavily influenced by that experience.  Aside from making rocking art, Izel’s also a pretty solid human being.

Izel is having a show in McAllen, Texas, at the end of August.  You should go see it if you live in Texas or know anyone who lives in Texas.  I know Texas is like, huge, and stuff, but still, go support my friend and solid human being Izel.