Alex’s Top Pick: Gus’s Fried Chicken

Alex “Zú” Arzú is a Houston-based muralist and tattoo artist who was born in Augsburg, Germany to two Garifuna/Afro-Honduran immigrant parents. While he enjoys pursuing many forms of artistic expression, Arzú deems the process of creation more significant than the medium of choice. His goal is to produce art that inspires viewers to embrace unique and personal experiences. Arzú, a graduate of the University of Houston, enjoyed a 4-year stint as an architect before becoming a well-known visual artist. Since his days in architecture, he has worked with influential brands such as Coca-Cola, singer Willie Nelson, MTV Cribs, and more.

His mural, History, a Rose, beautified a vacant property at 1800 Houston Avenue during the 2019 HUE Biennial Mural Festival. With this mural, Alex brings history from the past to the present by rendering the building’s facade as a railroad tunnel. The railroad allusion pays homage to the area’s early migrant rail workers, the majority of which ere Black, German, Italian, and Mexican. As the rail line pushes forth from the building as if through time, the train engine spouts roses from its smokestack — a flower which once populated many of the gardens who grew in the neighborhood. The details of this mural blend the past with the present and remind of us the spirit of unity and multiculturalism that has characterized Houston throughout its lifetime.