Living History Art
Art by Jeffrey Adam Meszaros
In 2023, a client reached out to Jeff at JAM Bottle Cap Art to commission a unique bottle cap mosaic. This client turned out to be a private collector of historical American documents. Through communicating about the mosaic, a few questions came up: what if Jeff was supplied with an assortment of damaged and incomplete historical paper materials? What could he create with them? These questions brought forth a new idea - much like Jeff up-cycles beer bottle caps into unique mosaics, now he can breathe new life into centuries old paper materials and create truly one-of-kind collages. History meets fine art.
The first, and now only, idea involved the creation of a portrait of the beloved 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Using only damaged or incomplete Civil War era newspapers, Jeff meticulously sorted, cut, and arranged the papers to create this literal time capsule that is woven into the venerable visage of Lincoln. Using newspapers from every corner of the country torn in two, this biographical portrait gives a glimpse into the social, political, and wartime landscapes that Abe oversaw - there's a good chance that he himself read some of the articles included in this piece while having his morning coffee.
The Making Of: Abraham Lincoln
Meet the Artist, Jeffrey A. Meszaros...
Working in the sustainable art world, artist, Jeffrey A. Meszaros, began his career using up-cycled beer bottle caps and wine corks to create unique mosaics for clients worldwide.
His idea was founded during his years working as a bartender; tossing hundreds of bottle caps and corks every single shift, Jeff thought "there must be some use for these colourful caps instead of dumping them in the landfills". Thus, the idea to create colourful mosaics out of recycled materials was born.
He began his first project in 2008, a mosaic of John Lennon for his own personal collection. Jeff's first commission was of Joe Strummer for a local brewery, and business took off there after.
Jeff has clients all over the world, including the Chicago Bulls, Deep Eddy Vodka, and Labatt/Toronto Blue Jays.
View Jeff's portfolio here.
Read a feature of Jeff's work by FORBES here.