One day of my life: David Strauzz

David spent some time in Boston and returned to his roots a couple of years ago – to show us how to make proper art. At the moment, he’s also collaborating with Footshop and Nike on a huge mural.

We’re currently at your apartment. You don’t have to be specific, but give us a hint – where are we?

I live in Prague 2, near Palackého náměstí and my Gallery MEGA. The legendary Czech artist and illustrator Josef Lada lived in this house, which I find very inspiring.

There are art books everywhere… Which artists do you currently follow? And what’s your number one book you would recommend to our readers?

I’m a street artist, so I enjoy reading about other street artists, their techniques and their inspiration. To be specific, Michal Škapa, Jacques Villegle, Chuck Close or Robert Rauschenberg. As far as prose is concerned, I’d recommend Tom Wolfe’s “The Painted World”.

I love this object! Do you do a lot of 3D work?

Hahaha. That one usually scares people. And it’s really dangerous! What I’m trying to say is that the most dangerous thing for me is a lack of time. So I made this to remind me to use every day as if it were my last. Because time goes by terribly fast.

You’ve got a very original table in the kitchen. Where did you buy it?

I didn’t buy it. I studied industrial design. And I love hyper modern furniture that’s functional. I made this table in my studio.

What are those sneakers? To be honest, I don’t even know the brand – what sneakers do you prefer?

They’re by an Italian brand called “Golden Goose” and I bought them in Paris. I love shoes. I wouldn’t call myself a sneakerhead, but I do have a small collection. I wear Nike – ACG or Jordan, adidas (Y-3) and Puma.

Your artwork’s on display in the entrance hall and there’s a staircase there, too. Where does it lead and what artworks can we see in this photograph?

I have a small collection of artwork from artists I respect and am friends with. In this photograph, there’s a picture by Michal Škapa and one of your photos. The staircase leads to my bedroom, where I have other art from artists like Matěj Olmer or ZebOne. The door leads to the kitchen and the living room.

So let’s get to work, right? How do you get to your studio and where is it?

First, I go to the Karlovo náměstí metro station, walking past my Gallery MEGA. I always find inspiration in what’s currently on display – great street and graffiti artists. And then I take the metro to Kolbenova, where I have my studio, in Pragovka.

The Gallery MEGA sounds mega! Can you tell us more about this original art project?

The name MEGA means literally “town gallery” (Městská galerie). I decided to make an artistic space, where I can showcase graffiti and street art, which is our philosophy.

At the same time, it’s still our first year and I think that this kind of gallery fits really well into the metro environment. I think it’s a good way to show people that public spaces and street art go together like bread and butter. It can bring some color into gray spaces and improve the quality of life for passers by, while providing a bit of free culture. In a time when most galleries and museums are closed due to COVID-19, we can provide culture and art to people. All day and every day, which definitely is MEGA!

So your most commonly used metro line is the yellow one, or B. How do you pass the time on your commute?

It’s about 25 minutes from my place to the studio. I love it. I watch people. I listen to the sounds of the metro and observe the architecture. Everything brings me a ton of inspiration. I can plan my whole day out. Prague’s metro system is brilliant. It might sound weird, but it really is perfect.

You have this great mural on the stop you get on. How long did it take you to make and how did this collaboration come to be?

This specific station is under reconstruction. My friends from Artwise came up with this project and it became reality thanks to DPP. It took me three nights to finish. We had to work at night, from midnight, when the metro closes, to 4 AM. I got a lot of positive feedback, including from a couple that took photographs of themselves making out, as well as a man and woman I painted. Other stations feature artwork from my friends and colleagues like Gyzmo Lava, Chemis and Jan Miko.

Your Pragovka studio is full of spray paint cans. Like, at least a couple thousand. Do you know how many cans you have here?

I have no idea! But it’s a lot. It’s my life. And thanks to Molotow Prague and our recycling program we created, about 2 500 empty cans were exchanged by graffiti artists for new paint cans.

What are you currently working on?

I have a couple projects in the making right now:

• a small art exhibition with the brilliant painter Albinus Grammar, here in Prague.
• I have several commissions I need to finish soon.
• I have a big mural project coming up next week in Holešovice. It might be one of the biggest murals in Prague.
• I have to send a couple paintings to a gallery in Paris.

Do you have a favorite brand of spray paint, or some sort of preference and if so, why?

I often use Molotow Premium… and sometimes MTN94, because they have nice colors.

I can see a Canadian flag among those stickers over there. What’s the difference between making art over there or in Europe? And what’s the difference like living there?

I can’t speak on that too much. I love both the Czech Republic and Canada, but I’m not a nationalist. There’s problems over there, same as here. I think I’m lucky that I have both a Czech and Canadian citizenship. The Czech Republic is better for travelling, we’re in the middle of Europe, and it’s very close to Berlin, Vienna and Budapest from here (and Brno! For my friends over there. Haha). They’re beautiful, cities, both historically and culturally, that you just don’t have over in Canada. And so close to each other! And besides, the Czech women are more beautiful and the beer’s better.

That’s a very sustainable way of thinking. Instead of throwing the empty boxes away, you make something out of them. What’s this piece called?

As an artist I think it’s critical to think about our ecological footprint. But I wouldn’t label myself as an “ecological” artist. I see what artists at Pragovka throw away, and it’s sad. But that’s just my opinion. We can always buy new materials. But you can find enough materials for a million pieces of art in the garbage dumps. Maybe it’s the street artist in me that looks at things like this differently. Anyway, this object is new and doesn’t even have a name yet.

Your logo’s great, just a proper tag! What about you and illegal graffiti. Do you still go painting at night?

I love different hand styles and fonts in graffiti and street art. There’s millions of styles out there, and when done properly, it’s incredible seeing them. In public. Hand written.

Back in Canada, I had a short brush with illegal graffiti. I got caught and it was a big problem. The Canadian police creates a database with photographs of your graffiti. In case you don’t know, when you go out to do graffiti, you do more than one tag or throwup during a session. More like twenty or thirty. So, when you get accused of something and you’re an active graffiti writer, they show you a file with photographs of all of your pieces. The police then visited my school and of course my home, where they took my sketchbooks as evidence. They wanted to know who else was in my crew. They put a lot of pressure on me, but I didn’t say a word – snitches get stitches. And because I didn’t collaborate, it meant a bigger fine. But I always had a job, so I managed to pay it fairly quickly . When the cops came, my dad luckily wasn’t around, just my mom – if he was, it would have been much worse then just a fine.

And now, with CCTV and cellular monitoring – fuck it! I don’t need to see my name everywhere on the streets. But lately I’ve been getting the feeling that I’m able to speak on what’s going on in the world. So it’s possible that you’ll see something like this in the streets of Prague. I think that if you’ve felt the freedom of painting and writing on walls, it’ll always be a part of your DNA.

Your paintings are phenomenal on their own, but the biggest added value is watching them paint themselves when looking at them through a phone or camera! It’s wild. How did that come about?

That’s a long story. I began focusing on abstract portraits in Boston. I saw a portrait from Chuck Close and instantly knew that I wanted to do something similar, but with my own “street style”. And one day, an old lady came by my studio – 88 years – and didn’t see the face on my painting. But, because she liked the colors, she took out her phone and snapped a picture of the painting. After taking the picture, she was able to see the face in the painting too.

Even ten years ago, almost everyone was using mobile phones. That event had an immediate effect on me. I knew that, in my art, I have to comment on the huge impact of technology on human interactions. Positive, negative and the entire spectrum in between. Seeing my paintings with a phone or a camera isn’t necessary, both have different visual and cognitive abilities. Sometimes, it’s easier to see a face on my painting from a specific angle. Our brains work in different ways. Facial recognition is a fascinating science in and of itself.

Is this Václav Havel? That’s a brilliant painting, I need to buy it. Do you have any more exhibitions planned out – where can we see your latest work?

Yeah, this painting of Havel is one of the non-abstracting paintings I made. I like playing with people, their patience and attention. I want people to slow down and breathe. I want them to appreciate the moment. As a result of technological advancement, our lives have changed. It has its negatives, but also its positives. Everything’s so fast. Eating dinner with a beautiful woman and a glass of wine, while browsing through Facebook at the same time is an incredible thing for me! So if I can give a piece of advice, it’s that people should use their phones when they need to, but not because they think they have to. I get it, it’s easier said than done. And I should take a leaf out of my own book, as I spend way too much time on my phone. Life is a paradox!