Transcript for Episode 056 – Urban Contemporary Artist, David Strauzz (Prague, CZ)

Published March 3, 2020

Full recording here: https://wisefoolpod.com/urban-contemporary-artist-david-strauzz-prague-cz/

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Matthew Dols 0:12
Could you please pronounce your name correctly? For me?

David Strauzz 0:14
Yes. David Strauss

Matthew Dols 0:15
and you go with a double z. Greg, is that your given name or digit? Is that your sort of tag name? That’s,

David Strauzz 0:20
I would say that’s my artistic pseudonym. Okay. Yeah.

Matthew Dols 0:24
No you from?

David Strauzz 0:26
I can tell you why as well. Sure. All right.

Matthew Dols 0:29
Yeah, getting my podcast, you can be as long and as elaborate as you want. This is not about short sound bites. This is your own stories. Yes. So be long. Okay, Robert.

David Strauzz 0:39
So when I was had a studio in Boston, I was starting to exhibit very briefly or in New York City. So when I was trying to purchase the domain, or a domain name, I found out that there’s five or six David Strauss. This is like, what two s’s in New York City alone in the art community? Wow, I’m like, first six or seven. That doesn’t make any sense. So I was thinking about what to do. And my best friend who’s an artist in, in London, Ontario, in Canada, Greg bends, he uses Zed at the end of his name, which because of his DJing, and music production background, so I decided I’m gonna change it to two Zed for no other reason than to buy the domain name. And then to make myself a slightly unique. Oh, yeah,

Matthew Dols 1:30
I have the same problem. My name is Matthew Dols, which is, I think, a reasonably uncommon name. And there’s another person named Matthew Dols. He’s a drummer in Iowa. And he bought Matt Dols calm, yes, like 18 years ago, and it took me 13 years of constantly putting it on backorder saying if it ever comes available, yeah, buy it. Yes. After 13 years, I finally we got Matt Dols calm. I’ve owned Matthew Dols. Calm for 19 years now. But But Matthew Dols took me 13 years back from this drummer who never did anything with it. The website sat blank for 13 years. So that’s fighting for it. And I was just like,

David Strauzz 2:09
that’s funny, because my music production name was EBS. You know, at the time in the mid 90s, when everybody had a really kind of like, mysterious pseudo name. My name is EBS, which is Latin for drunk or inebriated and. And I let it expire. Somebody in Scandinavia picked it up, and they’ve done nothing with it either. I believe they’re in music as well, but they’ve really done nothing with it. So if I could get that back, that’d be awesome.

Matthew Dols 2:37
I love the times when we used we all used to use Latin phrases as we thought it would somehow made us more give us more prestige kind of thing. Like who I used Latin phrase. Yes,

David Strauzz 2:47
that’s right.

Matthew Dols 2:48
Like my professors even taught me at one point, they said, Oh, it’s really good to throw a Latin phrase in your arts artists statement. Yes. Like, Oh, God, we were so pompous. Back in this day. It’s like, holy shit,

David Strauzz 3:00
certain trends that are still happening to this day. That’s kind of like, I’ll try and stay away from that. I find

Matthew Dols 3:07
people are still doing it. Yeah, like, I mean, I do portfolio reviews online. And like, I’m constantly running into people that are like, throwing out Latin phrases and quoting Greek gods, yes, ology, and in their art works. And I’m just like, Oh, my God.

David Strauzz 3:20
I know. That’s why To be honest, and I know we mentioned in the past that you want to steer away from talking about street art, but really, that’s why I enjoy street art the most is because I think it’s as authentic as, as it can be in the art world. Now, trust me on Instagram, you’ll find 55,000 people who call themselves street artists, and they probably have never painted a wall in their life, or, or done really anything that relates to street art. Regardless, it doesn’t matter. I think, for me, it’s it’s a really refreshing group, where you do whatever you want, and you don’t really necessarily have to tie yourself to some massive thesis, like you said, with some references to Latin history, etc.

Matthew Dols 4:09
Well, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate and respect a good mural or a piece of street art. What I don’t like and I’m sure I’m probably bad emails about this, but like, What I don’t like is just tagging it, especially when I see it on like a beautiful building or a gorgeous, whatever, like a beautiful piece of marble or like, just the other day I was actually walking home and I saw, there’s this contemporary building near where I live, and it’s got this beautiful dark wall, and it’s been pristine for like 10 years, and all of a sudden some guy just went in or girl I don’t know, went in with a white spray paint and tag. Yes, I’m just like, ah, like that hurts me. Yeah. Because Because I think the building is beautiful and I think the tag has destroyed the beauty of that. That structure. Yes. So I don’t like that when they destroy something in the act of doing their thing. Now, if they’re like, like, recently you were given a wall, basically by the city, I believe, or the municipality, and then you did something on there. I think that’s fabulous. I’m all for that. I mean, like, if you have designated spaces to do something, and then you do it great, but I really, really have a big pet peeve of like, destroying something that’s already beautiful. With something illegal. Yes. ugly.

David Strauzz 5:35
Do you would you like me to comment? Yes, you would. Yeah. I mean, contradicts me like no, no, it’s not, it’s not a contradiction all I think tagging is literally a game of cat and mouse. I think if if the rules or the laws were more harsh, if they were, you know, if the authorities were essentially monitoring, or even buffing as an example, buffing, its buffing is essentially the act where the authorities then clean those walls, and I know it can become expensive, but it’s if somebody is getting up a lot, and their work keeps on getting buffed, it becomes annoying, and you probably will, you know, start to reconsider your, your tagging career because spray paint is expensive. But, but also, you know, there’s all sorts of sub subcontractors bit of anarchy in there. There’s rebelliousness. And also in in contrast to that, I think a lot of pseudo anarchists are upset with how many ads and billboards there are in the cities that they’re we’re being pushed, or these messages are being pushed on. I don’t want to say us, but the tagging community,

Matthew Dols 6:49
and therefore this is their kind of counter measure, if you Oh, I have no problem with people tagging, advertising, or billboards and things like that. The ones that I have problems with is like, here in downtown Prague. Like, I’ll go down, there’s this beautiful door that was obviously handcrafted, like 100 years ago, probably and, and it’s magnificent. And somebody tags Yes. And that hurts. Agreed, you know, like,

David Strauzz 7:16
I myself, I mean, this is I’m opening myself up for a lot of criticism as well painting on court VA, in Mr. Republican in Prague, but I myself would never paint on something that I would consider. Truly, truly historical, or, and or extremely expensive or difficult to buff, you know, like, like you said, a marble wall, you know, some kind of middle aged grill or door or gate or something like that, like to me that those Yeah, I myself personally wouldn’t do that. But here we go. Now, I’m going to probably get some nasty emails as well that I’m painting on called via, which is a historic building. And I know that there’s a little, you know, their conversations being had about what we did there. And but

Matthew Dols 8:05
what are you talking about? Well caused by the one you did the faces on

David Strauzz 8:09
it? Well, so there’s, there’s another that wall is okay. Because a historic wall. There’s another portrait that I painted about, maybe two months ago on Courtois, which is the shopping center in amnesty Republic. There’s palladium mall. And then across the street, there’s it’s a geometric building. I believe I

Matthew Dols 8:30
know what he’s talking about.

David Strauzz 8:30
Yeah. So there was a kind of a corporate action. And I was commissioned to paint a large portrait on the side of the building, right?

Matthew Dols 8:40
Yes. Because that that building was under is under historic preservation. Yeah. Like last year. Yes.

David Strauzz 8:46
Yeah. So that so if there are critics out there, pardon me, if there are critics, if there are critics out there that then they would have the power to criticize that work because it is on a historical building.

Matthew Dols 9:02
But there’s a big whoa okay. But there’s a big difference and this is where like, I differentiate on my sort of rules about my rules like my personal ethos about like street arts and stuff. If somebody Commission’s you fine, I don’t care, like so even if it’s a historical place or some magnificent place if the owner of the property commissioned you to do it, yes, that’s their choice. They own that property they can do with it as they wish if they desire to add, you know, some sort of mural or street art or whatever their whatever property that’s there right. It’s when people go in and do it illegally and and damage something that you know, was inherently beautiful historic or something like this. That’s when I have a problem so yeah, I mean, I have no problem if the if the owner of the property Commission’s you more power to them. That’s their choice. Yes.

David Strauzz 9:48
I agree.

Matthew Dols 9:51
I’m not I’m not here to dictate who can do what with their own property rights ridiculous and other my

David Strauzz 9:58
To be honest, you know, I think it was an exciting process. jack, I was really grateful that I had the opportunity to do that. It wasn’t without its challenges. You know, the project started at 10pm. And I was supposed to be finished at 6am. I ingested probably seven Red Bulls in a short span of time. It was insane. And I look back on it and for the rest of my life is something that I literally have no idea how I lived through it.

Matthew Dols 10:23
That’s very fast.

David Strauzz 10:24
Yeah, it was crazy. It was absolute crazy. I think I climbed that ladder I mentioned on Instagram 60 times in six hours or 70 times it’s it’s our it’s good. Good workout. Yeah, it was a great workout. Yeah. All right.

Matthew Dols 10:38
So let’s get back a step here. And a lot of people listening may not know a lot about your background and all this so you are Canadian and Czech and you now you were raised in Canada, you now live in the Czech Republic give us a little bit more sort of background.

David Strauzz 10:51
So keep it incredibly short. My parents escaped Czech schlocky and 73 through England. I was born in 76 in London, Ontario, which is between Toronto and Detroit. I went to one of the premier post secondary art schools in Canada, which is called Beale art. I believe that some of the students are graduating students next year are going to be coming to Czech Republic. So I hope if they hear this, I would love to entertain them here at Prague of God. So after Beale, I went to OCAD University or OCA at the time when I went to they gone through a series of name changes. But anyway, I went to Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. I studied industrial design, I deviated from my art career for a few years, because I want to kind of immerse myself in materials and manufacturing processes because they might my goal life goal was to create artistic furniture. Because in Canada, you could never or you could purchase European furniture, but at an incredible expense.

Matthew Dols 12:01
I remember those days. So

David Strauzz 12:03
that was that was the objective. But then as I deviated farther and farther from my artistic life, I decided to change and get back into it. We moved to Boston, where I had a studio there and I decided to go full time again into artwork every day, all day. And I really started to feel that I was making some headway in Boston, not only in Boston, but also in New York City. And then after four years, because the American culture and lifestyle is pretty hardcore. You know, like, I think two months after we moved to Boston, there was the Marathon bombings. And that was like our introduction to America. And so for us Canadians. It was like, what, what, what is this, like, this is intense. So fast forward. After four years in Boston, we moved to small shack in Northern Ontario decide what our next step was, after a statistical analysis on paper. And thanks to the fact that I had Czech citizenship or dual citizenship, we moved to Prague, but five years ago where I’ve,

Matthew Dols 13:14
you keep saying we

David Strauzz 13:15
Yeah, my wife and I got Yep. So here I am. Five years later in Prague working in his artist full time, I’ve got a studio at Prague of God in Prague nine. So if anybody has never been here, I recommend coming to see some old classic architecture that is slowly being renewed. There’s a great cafe here that make exceptional coffee, and they’re very supportive of my my efforts.

Matthew Dols 13:38
All right, so and so you moved here with your wife? Yes, five years ago. That’s right. Why Prague so that you could come anywhere in the Czech Republic, why did you choose to come to Prague, I could

David Strauzz 13:50
have actually gone anywhere in Europe, because that’s true EU citizenship. Because the objective was to reconnect with my history and my culture, my relatives that live here, I now consider myself a Czech Canadian artist. And I’m working as what I see as a representative of the Czech art scene as well, for good or for bad. But it was very important for me also, to like I said, just kind of reconnect, understand who I am, where I came from my family’s story, what brought me to Canada and why. And then also what inspired me to move back. So this is all stuff that I’m, I’m in process. I’m still learning more every day, I’m still having conversations, to really identify who I am.

Matthew Dols 14:34
We’re all on that journey. I mean, I’m constantly reevaluating my place in the world and my choices in life and all this is, you know, I tried to do morning pages. Have you ever done this? No. Do you know what I’m talking about? I have no idea. Who’s this lady. Julia Cameron wrote his book like 2530 years ago now called the artists way. And she encourages this thing called morning pages where you take a journal Literally just write three pages every day period. So no more, no less. And if you have nothing to say you just write out nothing, say nothing. Doesn’t matter, just like you write whatever’s on your mind every morning, three pages. And I find that like, after I do that, I’m much more refreshed. And I’m more like this, you just get whatever shits in your head out on the paper so that you can then be like, Oh, now I can do new things. Because I’m not I don’t have this cluttered mind yet, or so like, I’m constantly trying to do that. And every time I do it, it’s fabulous. But it takes so much time 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how quickly I write to do it. And because I guess I’m a slow writer, but I mean, part of it is I’m getting to the idea of process. So like you said, being in the studio constantly kind of thing. So like, are you a person who is in the studio every day nine to five, whether you actually have something to do or not? Or are you more of a wait for inspiration to come in the studio kind of verse, I’m

David Strauzz 15:59
absolutely somebody that spends every day and six days out of seven in the studio, if I can, of course, if I’m not painting a wall, somewhere, that’s still

Matthew Dols 16:09
a studio, but

David Strauzz 16:10
yeah, essentially working on my art practice, at least from nine or 930 in the morning till whenever in the evening, every day.

Matthew Dols 16:19
And are you making a living at this?

David Strauzz 16:21
Yes. Yeah. I mean, like, Am I driving a Ferrari? Or do No,

Matthew Dols 16:27
I don’t believe any artists really other than like Jeff Koons or Damien Hirst is driving a Ferrari.

David Strauzz 16:32
Now, there are some street artists I know that are millionaires as well. But um, yeah, I would say that I am. I’m making a living, like many artists, either, you know, and I don’t I don’t even think some of the most successful names in the art culture. I don’t necessarily believe that they’re in the black, but they’re making a living, they’re doing what they love. And hopefully, they’re healthy. And those are my objectives as well. So, yes,

Matthew Dols 16:59
okay, so how do you juggle all that? So are you so you’ve got commissions, you have works that you put in galleries that are are sort of object based for sale? Yes, you, I’m assuming then possibly go for some grants, maybe some residency some like Word, run some workshops? Like, what what’s the combination of things that you figured out, then maybe that works for

David Strauzz 17:19
you, Matthew, I’m gonna get into this, I apologize. One last note that I want to go back on what inspired me to come Czech Republic absolutely, is with the tragic death of my mother from cancer, lung cancer. And that was in 2013, which is really primarily the most important reason why I came here is because I freaked out, literally freaked out. So about my life, who I am, where I am, why am I doing what I do, etc, etc. So anyway, I hate it. I hate that’s a side note. But really, that is the most important reason.

Matthew Dols 17:51
What’s not a side note, actually, because one question I actually are often asked to is, what did your parents do for a living? Yeah.

David Strauzz 17:57
My parents, okay, so going back. My father worked in barrandov, before he escaped as a filmmaker. My mother was just an accountant. And my wife

Matthew Dols 18:08
is an accountant that’s not adjust. No,

David Strauzz 18:10
no, no, absolutely. She was a saint on this planet. So she did everything she could to help me and my family. And, but they’re always because of my father, and my mother as well. immersed in art. So theater, film, paintings, exhibitions, galleries, we are always going throughout our lives to these cultural events. And when they moved, or when they escaped Canada, it was literally find what job you can to put food on the table. So my mother could continue her business, you know, career, but my father started working in the automotive industry, because the film industry in Canada at that time in 73, wasn’t as developed as it as it is now. Now, it’s great to Hollywood of the North. So he essentially, and I believe it’s why he was so angry. And so I wouldn’t use this term loosely, but violent throughout our lives. My life, my early life, because he had an artistic need that he couldn’t express. And I told myself, that is not who I’m going to be. If I’m doing what I love to do, then I’m not going to be as angry as he was. Majority of his life. So I find that if I don’t make something, like just be creative, produced anything, whatever it is, you know, it

Matthew Dols 19:36
could be repainting the house, whatever. Like, if I’m not actively creating something, I get angry, I get very agitated, I get very low, sort of like, I want to make something I agree, give me an opportunity to create something. Yes. So yeah, I could absolutely see like if you if you had a great career, and then you suddenly you had to move due to whatever kind of extraneous situations and then you’re sort of forced into a job. that you possibly didn’t like? Yes. For the rest of your life. Yeah, that can easily make somebody a creative person very agitated.

David Strauzz 20:08
Oh, yeah, agitate is understatement I think

Matthew Dols 20:11
being I don’t know your father. Yeah,

David Strauzz 20:12
yeah, the people that do will know that my my sister doesn’t speak to my father and they live in the same city in Prague here. They don’t speak to each other because my sister has come to terms with our history, our childhood. I, on the other hand, I’m seeing life and my relationship with him from a different perspective. I don’t want to live with any regrets. So I will tolerate his behavior to a certain extent. I mean, I’ve kicked kicked him out of the studio probably like half a dozen times for sure. But it’s a fact of our life, you know, and I think it’s a good reminder for me to, to utilize every day that I can in the studio, which is why I’m so disciplined in my art practices, because I have, I have the possibility I have the capability of being here. So why not, and if I don’t, I know I’m miserable at home. We just spent two or three days away in in Ostrava, and Ababa and, and best, best jetski, I believe, in a beautiful winter chalet for two days with our Canadian friends. And I was already getting miserable, because I was unable to, you know, do what I do in the studio every day. So anyway,

Matthew Dols 21:24
oh, yeah, I woke up this morning. And I was just, I wanted to get in the studio. And I realized I didn’t have the resources I needed. Like, I mean, I didn’t have the, you know, the materials that I needed to make what I want to make, and I don’t don’t have the money to buy an element, the materials I need. So I’m, I’m just sort of sitting there. Like, I really want to finish this project that I’m in the middle of, and I can’t finish it, because I don’t have the money to buy the materials to do it. And it’s very aggravating, like, it’s funny, because like, I look at my own ways of dealing with stress and things like this. And so I shut down, I get really quiet. Yeah. And and sooner or later, I’m sure I’m going to explode about the whole thing. Yes. But, but like, yeah, it’s it’s very difficult to find that balance of like, how much time you put in how much money do you put in, like, you know, because you often hear about stories about artists who are making work and they’re doing a career and they something happens, you know, some medical issue or financial issue, whatever comes up, and suddenly, they have to stop making their art because they have to do something else to make a living or whatever. So like, the question is like, so how do you find that good work life balance? Yeah, basically, and financial balance, too. Because, you know, there’s the tradition of, you have to spend money to make money. Yes. But then there’s also there is a limit where you have to stop spending money if you’re not making enough money. Right.

David Strauzz 22:46
Right. So

Matthew Dols 22:48
like, how are you doing that?

David Strauzz 22:51
I think like, as I started to get to develop my style and name here in Czech Republic more people are taking notice, I think that the work that I do on the walls, you know, there’s the business side of being an artist cannot be ignored. I know that there’s a lot of bohemian artists that, you know, they want to deny that they are marketing, or accounting or show. Yeah, that’s right, exactly. or using these umbrella names for activities that they do as an artist. But is it a fact, you know, like, business development, or marketing or accounting is a fact of our daily life. So when somebody comes to me and says, oh, you’re a full time artist, you’re living the life you’re in Paradise, yet? Well, yes, I am. But there’s no such thing as utopia. There isn’t. So in my utopia, it means that I spent about 10 hours in the studio every day, I go home, sit on the couch and crank as much as I can on Instagram and Facebook, because that’s like, easy marketing tasks that can be done somewhat quickly. And many times, as my friends or my wife know, I’m not posting nearly as much as I should, because I’m exhausted. And then there’s an element of accounting that needs to be done. And stuff that people don’t see behind the scenes, which is essential to practicing as an artist.

Matthew Dols 24:13
Well, and these are the things that basically the one of the reasons why I created this podcast is because there are many things about the arts that are simply just not talk. That’s right. And so that’s the stuff I want to talk about. So like you say you’re in the studio 10 hours a day on average. Are you physically producing work for 10 hours a day? Or like do you take naps? Do you think for a couple hours or do you literally putting paint on canvas or paint on a wall whatever, 10 hours a day,

David Strauzz 24:42
I carry a notebook I realized in Boston that I, I’ve been blessed with having ideas. Like just idea development is something that happens to me on the metro or when I’m looking at people or because I paint I mean, one of my styles His semi abstract portraits, so I’m looking at people and my inspiration is everywhere. So I have my book, my book, I write my ideas as often as I can. And I think that I probably have like literally 100 unfulfilled ideas that when I finish one, I can go to the next in terms of let’s say, What if I paint a portrait on this set of materials and also as, and I’m very careful that I don’t call myself a graffiti artist, but I’m a street artist or street inspired artists or, or urban contemporary artists. So when I’m walking around in space, which I do with my friend, Jacobi endora, from molotow, bra, he and I go and we wander, and we’ll wander around the rail yards, because trains are, they’re sexy, and you will see various materials or you’ll see very shadows on various corners of buildings on a train. And it’ll inspire me to consider the next technique when I’m painting a portrait or doing a collage or des collage. So for me, am I painting? Or am I creating 10 hours a day? No. But I would say, six, seven out of 10. And then I don’t take naps during the day. I’m tearing posters on ripping posters, I’m acquiring materials, when I find them. Or when I’m on the tram, I remember seeing a quantity of wood or steel somewhere in some corner, lying rusting. That means I will go there that one day when I don’t feel being painting on canvas or whatever, I’ll go and acquire and accumulate that material and bring it back to studio. So stealing it’s just accumulating.

So anyway, so as a as a kind of added no to acquiring materials from the street. I personally find work on canvas, 2d work on canvas, rectangular or square, to bore me, it bores me, I mean, it’s done 1000 1000 years, it’s already been done. So for me and my practice, if I can incorporate found materials, or recycled materials that will end up in the dump that are beautiful, and they have their own history and their own story to tell. I think that’s that’s my objective in the near future in the future is to do more of that. I think that artists should consider this concept as an I don’t wouldn’t call myself as an equal artists, but they should consider this more than just continuing the cycle of buying materials from a store. Whether it be wooden structures, or canvas. It is we’re living in a society now where we’re just continually to acquire and buy more crap. And I I’m starting to refuse and I’m starting to kind of protest against it. So you’ll see more and more of that in my artwork. I

Matthew Dols 27:55
was gonna say but isn’t spray paint actually kind of bad for the environment? doesn’t have it used to be I have

David Strauzz 28:01
no comment. No, yes, you’re right.

Matthew Dols 28:04
Used to I mean, maybe maybe the ecology, the technology has changed, but I don’t remember it had like CFCs or something like that well zone in it or something like that. I’m not perfect.

David Strauzz 28:13
I never would never admit to be a perfect person. Yes. No, the for sure. The classic spray paint Yeah, you know, have chemicals that are probably detrimental to to the

Matthew Dols 28:25
Are there new ones though?

David Strauzz 28:26
There are Yeah, they’re they’re water based. So there are water based paint that I believe are probably a little bit more eco friendly. And also in terms of odor and chemical. So you can use, you know, MTN or mala towel. They have paint where you can use them indoors, and they won’t be physically detrimental to your health. So I think that they’re considering this as well, in terms of providing materials for artists in the long term.

Matthew Dols 28:55
Yeah, I mean, I’m finding unfortunately, in my old age, I’ve become snobby or and snobby or about art materials and like because I will go around to the stores trying to find like the just the right material thing that I’m looking for. And I find it more and more difficult to find like, I’m, I’m sort of famous among my friends and family the I always want something that doesn’t exist yet. And I’m finding that basically the things are starting to exist, but they’re very expensive, expensive materials and everything. It’s ridiculous. So like the idea of of flipping the other way and utilizing materials that basically pre exist and sort of reworking them is a smart way to go because I would imagine it is very cost effective in many

David Strauzz 29:39
ways. Yes. I mean, like I I know who my gurus are, you know from a portrait perspective, Chuck Close, still living to this day and painting gorgeous paintings that I mean, they’re unbelievable in person. So I make the joke that I would like to be considered the Czech clothes. Haha. Anyway, and then also Robert Rauschenberg. Because he was an artist while living that was living in New York City, and literally going around his apartment and acquiring everything that was in the trash, you know, his famous goat through the tire. I mean, like, this is stuff that I think adds way, way more interest to me. And then here in Czech Republic, Khrushchev cantera. What he does with materials is, it’s incredible as well, and I, you know, I’ll follow his lead and checker bow in Czech Republic as being somebody who advocates for the use of found materials in their art.

Matthew Dols 30:36
I think it’s great. I’m all for it. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t fit for my Yeah, for sure. My personal ethos and style and whatever else, but Okay, back to the business of it. So, because, okay, because I’m sitting here thinking like, Oh, my God, if I was in the studio, 10 hours a day producing work, I would be spending so much money on materials and resources and stuff. How do you balance the spending of material and money on mere materials? Because I mean, like, I’ve seen you have come into your studio a number of times, where you have like, probably a couple 100, or maybe even 1000 euros worth of spray paints, or things. So like, how do you balance the expenditures with the incomes? It’s interesting story, if I can go into it really quickly, what I won’t go into it as long as you’d like. Yeah.

David Strauzz 31:21
So when it came to Czech Republic, the first thing I did was find out where the sources were to buy spray paint. And there’s some stores here that were classic. But of course, as an artist on a budget, you try and find the best possible price, and I found it online. And I bought, I think about 3000 crowns worth of spray paint the manager,

Matthew Dols 31:40
which is about $120

David Strauzz 31:42
Yeah, that’s right American. So the manager called me back and said the store which is primarily focused on selling streetwear, clothing, shoes, etc, accessories, but they also sold some spray paint to compliment the street vibe. They’re getting out of it. And would I consider buying more at an outrageous discount? So I asked him, Well, what is the quantity of their inventory, he gave me a price that I couldn’t refuse, and I bought the whole inventory. So that’s how I started my studio buying, I think it was close to 350 or 400 cans of spray paint right off the bat, it was a massive investment. But in comparison to what I was paying in Boston, I thought this is literally an offer I cannot refuse to. And so the funny part is that this this manager of the of the spray paint, he later opened moloto prah. And that is my now close to my best friend here in Czech Republic aquabion Dora, and we maintain a relationship and that kind of that history between him and I hope will last a long time. Because we have a lot of laughs about it. But um, so you know, that’s another element to being an artist, that, you know, the term procurement, spending some time in the end of the day and finding who’s got sales? Or who, where, where can i Where do I have a credit, let’s say? Or where can i on any kind of given project? Where can I spend as little money as possible in order to execute the best possible concept, you know? And so if that makes any sense?

Matthew Dols 33:13
Absolutely. I think about it every day.

David Strauzz 33:15
Yeah. And then of course, when I work on various projects, I might estimate that I’ll use 30 cans of spray painting, maybe I use 28, you know, so there will be some leftovers, or there’ll be some half used cans that I can save for later that I tend to start doing accumulate. So that’s where I am now. Okay,

Matthew Dols 33:34
so income Then how did what so what resources have I talked about? Like, are you running workshops, you’re getting commissions you’re doing? are you applying for grants? Are you having straight up sales? Like so like, what’s your How is your income working for you here,

David Strauzz 33:53
income is coming from selling artwork, from commissions to do exterior walls, installations, commissions as well. I have zero grants, I have never applied for a grant here in Czech Republic. I don’t have any financial assistance coming from anywhere else, but from the sale or of my artwork or completion of projects.

Matthew Dols 34:17
Okay, next question along that line is then you the sales that you’re producing, are these sales through social media through your own website? Are they through galleries? Like how are they manifest, I

David Strauzz 34:29
have a series of collectors that are following me. And I’m very lucky and grateful for them. That once in a while, they feel like they want to compliment their living space. And they see a piece of work that I’ve either included in an exhibition, or in my studio, which I invite them to come as often as they’d like. And they support me in that way. I have some representation here in Prague that, you know, they could be happy if they sold more. But um But that’s probably I would say 95% of my sales come from word of mouth, or from collectors that I have either in Czech Republic, Canada and the United States as well,

Matthew Dols 35:11
through social media. Oh, no,

David Strauzz 35:12
I would say these are people that Well, okay, so are you talking new? Or people who have come to me? Well, that

Matthew Dols 35:18
I mean, that sort of time? Both really is sort of the question is like it because one of my things that, again, I keep coming up through my conversations on these podcast is, finding people to collect your work is great, but maintaining that relationship. So like, finding somebody to buy one piece is great. finding somebody who will then buy a second or third or fourth, how do you what technique Have you found to continue to build that relationship? So like, I hear stupid things, you know, invariably, oh, email, you know, six every six months or something, send out an email to your collectors to saying, Hey, this is my new work for you. Like, do you do emails? do you do? Do you keep in touch with them? Like, do you touch base with them via an email, a social media, personal contact, whatever, like? Not at all? What what sort of professional business techniques do you do to continue these relationships?

David Strauzz 36:13
I do not hard sell anybody. I don’t want to, you know what I mean? Because I think that my story, the work that I do, if it speaks to somebody, and they’re interested in my story, and they want to compliment their living space, which to me is the highest reward for an artist possible up, then it’s, it becomes a natural relationship, like I have collectors that I don’t for, I don’t say, hey, I’ve got a new piece you should see, come to the studio tomorrow. Because I know, inevitably, they’ll just come naturally and say, Hey, what are you up to? And we would like to come for a coffee, the cafe, Prague, Kafka. And we can stop at your studio, and they’ll see something they like, and they’ll pick something up. Or, of course, through exhibitions, it’s easy. You know, it’s on the wall, there’s a series of 10 to 15, or 20, or 30 paintings, or pieces of artwork, and they’ll say, that one’s beautiful, I want to buy it. So for me, I want to be as authentic as I can. It is something that I learned while my mom, you know, after my mother’s passing, that I’m no longer going to be somebody who is too greasy, and is you know, is trying to like email newsletters and this to me, you know, like, is that something that I won’t do in the future? It’s possible, you know, I’ll consider it. But for right now, anybody that wants to come to the studio and have a conversation about art, or what I’m doing, or they saw something, I’m open to it, because that connection, that human interaction, to me is the reason why I’m doing artwork is because we might not be here for a long time. But if we can make the short time that we’re here, incredibly positive, by having these conversations or interactions, all the better for me, because when I that last moment of my life, which will come I want to say, Man, I met some exceptional people, and maybe we differ, you know, we had a difference of opinions. But the conversations were excellent. And that’s it. Goodbye, you know. So that’s it. So anyway, the point of my answer is that I’m not implementing any business strategies right now, in terms of marketing my work, I would probably, in the short term start to in terms of marking my work outside of Czech Republic in Germany, and in Austria, it’s literally my next assignment. But as of right now, no. How will that for long answer to your short and sweet question.

Matthew Dols 38:40
It’s really painful, though.

David Strauzz 38:42
Like,

Matthew Dols 38:42
I mean, I’ll be honest, because it will because I, you know, I like many people that listen to this podcast, I’m sure like me, you know, we’re always trying to figure out like, how do we find collectors? How do we find the people that will buy or appreciate our works in this? Like, it’s the that’s the hard thing? Because I mean, but beyond that, I mean, it’s also subject related material related scale, right? price point, really rabbit like, I mean, there’s so many variables, that’s the thing is, is like, you’re I’m a person that loves a system. Like I’m I love organization, I love a system and all that. And unfortunately, I chose an industry, the arts, that it has no system to it whatsoever, it’s completely random and subjective. And so like, Who’s going to buy what for and for what price and how often is completely random and there’s no way to predict or, or even set up or create any sort of scenario where x will work?

David Strauzz 39:41
I think like, the model like a car dealership model is not possible, right? You know, like to set up your inventory and put a big Billboard and have people come and then you know, their sales strategy and predict the pipeline and etc, etc. It can’t be done

Matthew Dols 39:58
in the arts. No, I

David Strauzz 39:59
I think when you have a name, you know that is out there massive well, being ran. Yeah, that’s right. You’re absolutely right. It becomes almost like a brand, then yes, you will have people walking through the doors of galleries more often not looking for the brand. Without question. At this moment,

Matthew Dols 40:19
yeah, but most I mean, you know, 98% of working artists do not have a brand. That is correct. So like, we don’t have that luxury. And this is this is my problem is is that all the conversations I keep hearing about reading about selling, I watch videos and read articles about stuff, it’s always about these brand name artists kinds of things. And it’s not about the literally like the you and I the day to day working artists that just like pounded out there was selling work and trying to get Yes, enough money to continue to make more work. Yes. And those are the conversations I want to have.

David Strauzz 40:52
I consider myself a working class artists, you know, that I, you know, I do enjoy getting my fingernails dirty, and painting myself all or executing the work myself. In the future, having assistance would be wonderful. And on the other hand, I do also enjoy having glass of champagne, after the fact after an exhibition or chatting with people. So I can live on both sides of of that of the world. Really, you’re

Matthew Dols 41:25
a champagne drinker,

David Strauzz 41:27
I enjoy. Yeah, okay,

Matthew Dols 41:28
I do not a picture champion for you

David Strauzz 41:30
know, I don’t think many people would, but I do enjoy it. He doesn’t come often. But anyway. But I think it is a part of the artistic business that we have to work towards creating our name. And I think by how to do that is to focus, make 99% on the quality of your work. And make sure that it’s as as authentic as it can be. So putting as much of your heart and mind into each piece and the concept and execution, not cranking them out like cookies is for me, what I believe is complementing, let’s say sales.

Matthew Dols 42:15
Alright, let’s go back to social media, you brought it up. You said you don’t eat the people say you don’t use it enough. And all this to like, give me a scenario of like, so what would be the way you would like to use it? And how do you use?

David Strauzz 42:30
Yeah, right. So as an example, the big wall in Prague that I just painted was 53 meters long. The intention was to paint 14 portraits, and I painted eight, I created a contest because I include some code and some secret messages in my work for people to figure it out, which means they have to spend more than just 15 seconds looking at my work. And the objective was to post one clue per day, over eight or nine days. And at the end of the nine days, if people are my followers, or people that engage with me, if they were able to figure out the code, the winner, the person first person who sends me a message would win a piece of original artwork. Now, the idea was that the clues would be released over nine days. And I believe it’s been a month. So this contest or you know, there has kind of it’s gonna lasted more than the time that I had envisioned. But it’s just because I don’t have the time or energy to do it. And I’m hoping that before the New Year, today and tomorrow, so that’s like to yesterday and tomorrow, I will release the last two clues so that I can have this project finished. But you know, I think that the the rules of engagement on Instagram as an example is that you should be posting at least once a day to kind of build and maintain and your following and your your platform. And if I’m lucky, I may be posting twice a week if I’m lucky.

Matthew Dols 44:05
Right. Okay. So like recently, I got some feedback and some input on like social media use and I found it very enlightening, which is that posting on social media is not the most beneficial thing. Other people posting or other people reposting or other people whatever tagging that is exponentially more beneficial than the volume or quantity that you post Yes. agree disagree.

David Strauzz 44:38
I’m not a I’m not a software architect. I don’t know that you know how they did that literally how they design it.

Matthew Dols 44:43
Well, and this is my problem is that because Okay, going back to like my childhood. My training is like I grew up in a time before social media. Yes. And before it’s computers even for that matter. The My problem is, is that in the old days, the art world was all handshake. Who you know, reputations, all this kind of stuff these days it is transition to that a lot of the not all I mean, there’s still the handshake and the good people and all that and art fairs and things like this. But a lot of it is based on algorithms, which are completely different and uncontrollable. You can’t manipulate them, you can’t work them, you can’t meet an algorithm, you say, Hi, can you? That’s right, please, you know, give my thing better? Because I mean, I’m trying really hard. I think I do a good job. Could you please You almost algorithmically promoted to me. It’s, it’s become this thing that like you basically have to play their game. Yes. I find that very painful.

David Strauzz 45:45
I agree. And not to mention, it’s not necessarily an authentic practice. For me, I like to create, I don’t want to, you know, but Okay, so now they’re saying underhand, I know that there’s many galleries out there that are looking at your social media platform, they want to see that you’ve got 2030 40,000 followers, and they’ll consider your portfolio once they look at your your platform. Now, if they look deeper into it, and they see a post from some of these artists, and they’ll see that they’ve got 40,000 followers, but 125 likes on any given post, that is not an authentic relationship. And to me, that is clear that that particular individual has purchased 3040 35,000 of those followers. So and then on the other hand, if you see some artists, and they’ve got 25,000 followers, and they’re having a very high percentage engagement, let’s say, even 2000 likes or 3000 likes, That, to me is very clear that that’s that that was natural, that was a natural build up, because they’re doing exceptional work. And also, they’re out there, and they’re, you know, they’re really, they’ve rolled up their sleeves, and they’re, they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing, which is amazing. So that’s why I don’t necessarily put too much of my time and energy into it, I will concentrate on the quality of my work, and my message, who I am as a person, as an artist, of their galleries that want to work with me, that’s incredible. And I guarantee that it will be a lifelong relationship, because I just believe that the person I am is going to compliment both sides. But on other hand, if they expect me to purchase 30,000 followers that aren’t going to engage, that’s not going to be who I am, I’m not going to do that. So what I mean is not that necessarily have the biggest ego in the world that I think like, you know, anybody who knows me is going to benefit their life is going to benefit that’s not at all, what I meant is that if if a gallery or museum was to engage with me in an exhibition, is that I’m going to do what I can to promote it as much as they can with through my platform

Matthew Dols 47:59
will see to it. It’s interesting, because to a certain extent, like you have the luxury that like, I can only talk for myself, but like I don’t, you can and do commission works. So like if a space or a gallerist or institution came and said, Hey, could you do something for us? You know, and you work collaboratively with us to come up with something that’s a unique characteristic in the art world? Yes, you know, because like me, I come from a very, very traditional background, where like, I go into my studio, I produce an object, I bring that object out into the world, and you either like it or you don’t? Yes. Whereas you are able and willing to be more collaborative. Yes, that whole process and that’s a reasonably unique thing. Yes. Among the object based artists in the world, it’s more

David Strauzz 48:48
exciting. I think, like many of the exhibitions that I’ve seen that incorporate street or urban contemporary artists, who, like as an example, Mahesh, Scapa, he will bring in his exhibition space, a car, and he will spray paint the car inside and out and everywhere. And I think that’s more interesting to me. I think that, you know, just the white cube gallery that was to hang 2d artwork. I mean, like, to me it, there’s some great artists, don’t get me wrong, that would inspire me in terms of the work they do in this format. But I think for me personally, it would, as an example, net, at the end of next month, January 2020, I’m going to have an exhibition in Ababa. And I’m speaking with the gallerist, about finding a wall in his community in Ababa, that will be there, either permanent or semi semi permanent and also do something within the gallery space that I can as an installation, so that I can maybe improve the quality of life of the community, and also in a roundabout way promote myself as the artist as well. Right. So, in that sense, that’s what I meant that when I do work, I like to be able to promote everybody’s efforts and do it in a casual way. But also in a fun way, you know, in the street art kind of way.

Matthew Dols 50:14
Well, speaking of that, actually, a previous guest on the podcast were the people who ran up gallery got improper walls in Vienna, and they actually do exactly that. Right. So I highly recommend talking to them. I can give you their car. That’d be awesome.

David Strauzz 50:28
Yeah, that’s great. I there’s one source in Vienna that I’m I’m hoping to do some some outdoor exterior work in Vienna next year in 2020. So that’s my objective. So I’ll definitely reach out to them.

Matthew Dols 50:39
Yeah, they actually there is a an entire collective of people seemingly sort of district by district within Vienna, they have two public art pieces. Yeah. And they’re funded by the community districts. And they’re given in the gallery, certain galleries and certain organizations are the ones that coordinate

David Strauzz 50:59
Yes, I think it’s starting to happen here in Prague as well, I think that, let’s say, in Prague, seven, Hello, srivatsa. There’s a number of walls and spaces where legal work can be done. And, you know, everybody knows if you go to Berlin, the city is like a coloring book. And not in a bad way. You know, there are tags as well, and you know, there, but I would say that you can literally go to Berlin and spend a week just looking at facades and walls. Absolutely. Which is cool to me, you know, it’s like a living gallery, space. And I hope and I would like to consider myself as somebody who’s going to continue to promote that concept, not only in Prague, but within Czech Republic as well.

Matthew Dols 51:44
Have you run into any issues about sort of trying to blend and marry the sort of fine arts world and the street art world?

David Strauzz 51:55
Totally, I think, and the label that I use, even marketing myself is urban, contemporary, so artists, I went to art school, I went to university, but at the same time, I was painting illegally on the streets graffiti, but that’s not part of my world. Now, you know, like, I have older knees and ankles, and what I used to consider myself as, you know, one of the Olympic fence jumpers, you know, when running from police, I can’t do that anymore. So I really would consider myself as as a fine artist, who has a street art pedigree. And I think that’s, for me, my opinion, the most exciting sub genre within art now,

Matthew Dols 52:37
and has people in the fine art world been accepting of that? Yeah, I

David Strauzz 52:42
think so. I mean, like, if you go to the art fairs in Miami, or Vienna, or sorry, Venice, etc. I think there’s a lot of street art artists that are now being exhibited in some of the largest private galleries, represented by large private galleries around the world, and also into the museums. So even if you go back in history, Jean Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring were artists that transitioned from the street into galleries. And now, you know, both of their names are in the pantheons of auction houses, and they’re in nine figures now, you know, literally nine items. So it’s not a new thing, you know, that goes back several decades. But that’s exactly how I see my career evolving.

Matthew Dols 53:31
So you have been moving around a lot. And you’ve got some moves between continents, in different countries, even things like this. I’ve been talking with a lot of people. And one of the things that keeps coming up is the the need to build a community. I found the street artists are actually pretty good with being a community even if they’re not physically in the same location. So the question is sort of like, when you moved from Canada to the United States, it sounds like to then Canada, then to the Czech Republic. And you’ve been here now for five years? How easy or difficult was it to create almost a new community here?

David Strauzz 54:08
I think it’s within street art. It’s amazing, because you go to one of the outlets where they are selling spray pain, and you have a conversation, and I dare anybody, positively, of course, to go to Molotov in Prague, and meet Jacobian Dora, and that is a guy that lives breathes, sleeps, his street art. So you go there and you have a conversation with him about spray paint or literally anything, and that guy will engage and you will immediately sense a feeling of acceptance. You bring your sketchbook or your black book to him and show him what you do. And I guarantee that he’ll incorporate you cite some way in the near future into some action that he’s putting on. So you’re right. It’s not easy, you know, but it’s just a fact. of life, you know, for me, as an artist, who I hope in my career will transcend borders. You know, I’m working on exhibitions in other countries, it’s not easy to do, but it’s just one another challenge another homework, when you, when you get into a community, you connect with people like minded individuals, whether it’s an art or street art, or whatever it is that you do. And, you know, if you’re cool, and if you’re positive, you know, maybe you’ll find some friends. And if they’re, you know, I really I think it ends up. And if you’re not, then you might have more difficulty. I’m not sure you know what I mean, like, that’s,

Matthew Dols 55:39
I feel like I’m on the other end of the spectrum, I’m having a lot of difficulty. And so like, that’s why I’m sort of like, gosh, it’s so hard. I mean, part of it is, is that, of course, I’m getting older, you know, I’m 46 years old, it’s just not as easy to make new friends and make new connections, because a lot of the people that are my peers as far as, like, my age, and my and my experiences, already have their communities and it’s very difficult for for sure to then sort of enter into their community, their existing community. So like, I wanted to hear some other,

David Strauzz 56:09
like, this is a classic psychology, you know, the in group out group, the cool club versus the naku, the nerds, and all this other kind of stuff. Like is, this goes back for probably the beginning of time, human civilization, and it will in the future as well. I have no answer to that. Because I just when I came to Prague, I knew that I needed to reconnect, as I said, with relatives and, you know, in the art community, and I feel so far, it’s not been easy, you know, like, for a fact, you know, I have a have an accent, I don’t speak Czech. Excellent, you know, I’m working on it. But people know immediately that I’m, I wasn’t born and raised here. But as I said, If think if you come with a from a perspective of authenticity, I think that some, you will find somebody you know, I think that you’ll connect with some people here, inevitably, and see where that goes.

Matthew Dols 57:09
Yeah, but it’s the point that I’m trying to get to is that sense of the the need of a community. Because one thing I’ve been learning through the act of doing this podcast is that I made many mistakes in my career, and one of those big mistakes was moving a lot and not keeping old connections, you know, not maintaining them and not growing with them. And all this like, I mean, I have lots of friends that I grew up with in Washington, DC that are now curators, and museums and stuff that I haven’t, but I made the mistake of not keeping up with them for 20 years. And like, if I were to try now to reconnect with them, it would be blatantly obvious that I’m trying to use them. And so I can’t do it, you know, like, it would not be authentic.

David Strauzz 57:54
Yeah, for sure. And Matthew, I think that what you might be experiencing is not unique, you know, you’re not alone, because I think a lot of people are, let’s say, going on social social media, or through the computer, on the internet, to find a sense of home. And, you know, I spoke a little bit about in my previous exhibition with somebody called Virtual identity discrepancy, where the avatars that they create, to connect with people may not be authentic to who they are in real, and they feel more comfortable online than they do in person. And so this is a topic that I discussed as well in my artwork where, you know, human interaction, the quality of the human interaction, and how it might be impacted by technology are concepts that are being studied by psychologists around the world. It’s a fact of our life in today’s society.

Matthew Dols 58:48
Yeah, I mean, I find it I’m a reasonably outgoing person. And reasonably extroverted, I can generally hold on a conversation with most people, but I’ve become more introverted and less outgoing as time has gone on. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve just gotten bored or or gotten scared or gotten intimidated or anxious. I mean, I take Xanax, but sometimes they do it for funds. They do it for your actual needs. But like, there’s a difficulty with sort of growing older and not having like, Sure, I’ll even go further than this. So like there, there’s a difficulty with getting older in the art and not finding the success that I’d hoped that I would have achieved by this point in my life. Yes, that gets a little depressing. Like we all want more sheer access. And there are days where it’s like, Why do I keep doing it?

David Strauzz 59:51
No, I think it was very interesting. In the last 48 hours, I was asked what would I do to become famous and so So, what, and literally this all goes back to the moment when my mother passed away, I said, I thought that I found you know, I had some time to kind of contemplate my life and and really meditate about it. And I came to the conclusion that managing expectations was the single most important thing that I can ever do in my life, not only my own, but the expectations of my partner, my friends, gallerists curators, everybody in my sphere, managing expectation, essentially allows me to limit the disappointment, or that is possible. And that may not always be a fact, you know, maybe people will supersede your expectations. And those are miracle moments, right? When somebody goes above and beyond what you ever thought was possible to set low bars, and always be surprised when they’re seated. But then, you know, like, the foot Canadian friends that we went with to this chalet, I mean, they, they’re angels on the earth, where they, you know, out of nowhere, they’ll invite us to this chalet, or they’ll do stuff with us that and it’s, I don’t ask, I don’t ask this from them. But they, I mean, it’s just like I said, there, I can’t explain it because they’re just so giving people and they are people on this earth that are like them, that shock you every time because the norm and the average today in society is not that right. So and then there was, of course, there are people that are well below the average, you know, that are takers and they’re stealers of your of your energy, which is the worst of the mall. Forget about stealing your car or stealing your money or whatever. They’re stealing your energy that you know, I wish. I don’t wish the worst of them because I’ve seen the worst but you don’t wish too much positive to them because they they’re not giving you much positive back.

Matthew Dols 1:01:48
I was just listening to a interview actually with a psychologist talking about like givers and takers and how these are very good givers, takers and moderate. Middle people. Sometimes they give sometimes they take Yes. And and how and then try and when you sit back and you think like am I a giver or a taker? And like, I always thought of myself as a giver. But in hindsight, I maybe I’m not so much of a giver. But Matthew,

David Strauzz 1:02:13
I think that’s okay. I mean, like, we’re all trying to figure out who we are. I’m a pastor,

Matthew Dols 1:02:17
I should be a giver.

David Strauzz 1:02:18
Well, you know what, I think that it’s going to take you your life to figure it out. And I think for me, personally, I know it is because I would say right now, probably two thirds of my life. I’ve been the biggest asshole on the planet. Okay, you got everybody like garbage. Okay, great. No,

Matthew Dols 1:02:34
no, I wasn’t great. No, no, I’m saying great. Because my background is I if you ask any of my previous employer, employers, possibly even ex girlfriends? me Oh, definitely my students. I was an arrogant ash, like, holy shit, such an arrogant ask. And I have come to realize that while maybe it was a great persona to put on as a professor to be that to sort of push them to try to be their best. It wasn’t good for me in every other way. Like, and I’m, you know, to a certain extent, like through this podcast and through this, like putting this out there. I’m like, basically trying to make amends. Like, I made a mistake. Yep. Yeah, I shouldn’t have done that. Yeah, that would that was a bad way to be as a person. As a teacher, possibly as a boyfriend. Yes. You know, what I know for sure. And, and, you know, we can do better. Like, I mean, any of us that would have that have fallen into these kinds of things we can change and try to do it better. Like I used to be so arrogant. I used to, I remember thinking, I should be friends with this person. Because this person can give me this benefit in my life. Like, I was such an ass. And you can’t do that.

David Strauzz 1:03:52
No, I mean, like you can, but I think it’ll come back to burn you. Yeah, and for me, and again, I don’t wish the worst on anybody. And I know what the worst I’ve seen the worst face to face, let’s say with a tragedy of my mother, but also as a younger partner, you know, with with romantic partner in the past, there is a girlfriend that I’ll never be able to say apologize to, I’ll never be able to say sorry, the way that I treated her because she passed away as well. And I, you know, I I tried to engage with her mother one time in a grocery store. And I saw when I saw her, it was the most nervous thing I’ve ever done. And her mother was very upset. And I understand. And so this, let’s say this ex girlfriend or my mother, you know, I think I think the power you know, the higher power or whoever that is that I’m conscious enough to understand or see the mistakes that I may have made in the past in terms of interacting with people and and i also thankful to have the strength to try and share Who I’m going to be now and in the future, not only as an artist, but as a person as well, right? primarily a person.

Matthew Dols 1:05:08
Yeah, I mean, I have a history, I used to be a drug addict, I used to do all kinds of heroin and cocaine, all kinds of things, anything I get my hands on pretty much my list of drugs that I haven’t done is shorter than my list of drugs that have done right. And, you know, part of that was at the end of why I went to the you know, Narcotics Anonymous and I tried to I tried that whole thing it was, it didn’t work for me. But it’s interesting. It’s a very interesting idea. I admire the people that do it, I think it’s a great system. And and part of it is not You mean, self medicating or by who are consciously trying to change. I’m saying people who choose to go to Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, whatever sort of anonymous thing. I think that system is fabulous. I think it’s really great. I think it’s incredibly beneficial for many people didn’t do much for me, personally. But every now and then, like, he got to sit back and say, like, like, the foundation of that kind of stuff is really good core like, and he even said, like, you know, comes to the comes back to this, this arts and this podcast, I know because of going off the rails here. But that because in the arts, we all think, when we start we think being an artist is is the act of being in studio by yourself, you produce a beautiful thing, and then you bring it into the world and all this. But what I’ve come to realize over my decades in this industry is is that it’s not that, like you start there, it’s the starting point. And but that is only a fraction of the entire act, agreeing an artist degree, being an artist is about the community, you chose to be in the arts, because you like the people, the lifestyle, the creativity that surrounds it all things. But like, the act of producing a piece of art is like 10% of the entire process of being an artist, because then there’s the business aspect of the social aspect of the community aspect of it, the sales, the maintaining of it, the social media, that all the other things that we have to do the ones that we have to do, yes. Because just sitting in the studio, and making art is not fulfilling enough,

David Strauzz 1:07:20
no. Like,

Matthew Dols 1:07:21
I can’t, you know, I’ve got these beautiful pieces that I’ve made. I was just having this conversation with my wife last night, like, I have these beautiful pieces that I’ve made that nobody has bought, yes. And it doesn’t feel fulfilled, until it is either well even just exhibited would be probably good enough. But like exhibiting the work and putting it out in the public getting those reactions potentially, if you’re getting somebody who loves it, and admire and respect it enough to want to then pay for it, and have it in their lives. Yes, that’s the most fulfilling thing that I could ever imagine. And by the way, on a side note, my favorite thing is if somebody says that they put a piece of my art in their bathroom, because the bathroom is the most used room in the house. I love it. I think it’s fabulous. But but i want i know making my artists great. But you need that community as connections, those people, whatever those supporters, that that bill, build it to the combination of the production of the piece like making, it’s great, and you can be happy with it. But you need those other people in those community members to fulfill the destiny of that piece of art.

David Strauzz 1:08:33
Yes, well, the thing is, as well, I think that, that, for me, the difficult part of being an artist is that it is very egocentric and self focused, right. But where I feel like in the last few years here in Czech Republic, where I felt the most positive not only about myself personally, but about what I’m doing is when I supported other artists, or where I reached out, you know, and I commented, let’s say as a really basic, kind of where you reach out and comment about somebody’s artwork that you think is spectacular. That feels really great. You know, like, I have a young artist friend, Adam Zimmerman, who is doing who’s really young in terms of his development, and he was he loves it and you, you, you feel every ounce of his passion for, you know, the gift of creativity, and you know how far he is as well from really getting to where he should be or where he wants to be. But to support him just verbally or, you know, or buying a piece of artwork or whatever, as an artist and with limited resources still feel so good. That I feel like that’s where I feel the best in terms of my life as an artist is when it’s not about me, it’s about the community. As you mentioned, it’s about supporting other artists with in whichever way But I can. That’s the coolest feeling for me.

Matthew Dols 1:10:05
All right, let’s try and wrap this up. So my final two questions that I always ask everybody. Have you listened to the podcast? Yes, I have. Okay. So you know, these questions. I’ve

David Strauzz 1:10:13
listened to the one with Louise and

Matthew Dols 1:10:14
yes, we chemistry. Yes, indeed. Okay. So the first one is basically some advice, experience, I always am hoping for somebody to share an experience that they had. They’re like, Oh, please, Everybody stay away from this. I fucked this royally, don’t do this. So some sort of advice to artists, that to either help them on their path to success or something to stay away from that might hurt their path to success.

David Strauzz 1:10:47
You know, it’s interesting, because I, when I, when I heard that bill art that students from Bill art are going to come to Prague, I thought, okay, if I had a chance to speak to him, what would I tell them. And I think that what I would tell them would differ from day to day, literally like, one day, I would tell them to run as far away from being an artist as they can. But But on the other days, when I’m even 10% and 90%, positive, I would say, it’s going to be the hardest work that you’ve ever done in your life, I mean, it’s going to, it’s going to exhaust every ounce of energy that you have on many of the days. So you will have to exercise a incredible amount of patience, an incredible amount of self doubt. And many times when you’re looking for support outside externally, you may not get that support. So it’s going to be very internal. It’s not going to be an easy road. But then, as you said, Matthew, when you know, when somebody supports you, when somebody sends you a message, and they are a picture that they have your picture in their living room or something. I mean, it’s one of the most rewarding things that can possibly happen that somebody shares the living day. So in terms of advice, I mean, really focused on your work. Like I think that’s, that’s where it all comes from is, what are you doing? Why are you doing it? And really, it is about yourself and focus on the quality of your work? Really? I mean, like, I don’t know what else to say,

Matthew Dols 1:12:16
No, I want to focus on actually something you just said. It’s a little thing. But I keep running into this. Because, again, I do portfolio reviews all the time. The Why? Yeah, that is the most important thing, because to a certain extent, I find it’s really easy. And sounds egotistical, but like it’s easy to make a beautiful thing. Yeah, whatever you define is beautiful, is a beautiful thing. But the need for the Y is of the utmost importance these days. Now, maybe it wasn’t at a certain time in art, history, whatever. But like these days, people want to connect with the world. They want something beyond the aesthetics. So like making a beautiful thing is great. But it has to have a really substantial, provocative, evocative visceral. Why? Why did you make her and like, the phrase I often use when I’m doing reviews is like, why did you make it? And why should somebody else care? Yes.

David Strauzz 1:13:19
Right. And I think like, one other element I would, is the term inspiration, you know, and where do people find inspiration or how and Chuck clothes said that he doesn’t need to find inspiration, he goes into studio and he starts getting his fingers dirty with pain. And inspiration comes to him by just interacting in the studio. So the act of doing you know, so live your if you know that advice would be live your life, travel, I would say travel as much as possible so that you can get a, like a global perspective on the human experience. And then inevitably, how it will affect your practice your style or your whatever it is you’re doing. Yeah, live your life and live with some sort of author’s authenticity.

Matthew Dols 1:14:01
and be patient like yeah, this is this is another thing that I keep running into with with younger creative people is like they think that they should be successful quickly. Yeah, for sure. And easily. Yeah. And it’s just not

David Strauzz 1:14:14
I can only imagine how many proposals the galleries are getting from artists who have, you know, either not even graduated or their one two year or three years out of school. They must be getting proposals, like it’s PDFs coming out the wazoo, you know, and whether they’re ready or not, I’m not sure but I understand the process. I get it, you know, because I was also there. But, but like I said, I think the most important thing they could do is live their life, travel as much as possible understand who you are. And then inevitably, when you kind of get an idea when you’ve made some mistakes and you’ve learned consciously from those mistakes, then I think you can become a better artist.

Matthew Dols 1:14:52
Yeah, I mean, I always say to my wife that basically like you need to enjoy the process because often times the return on the end, the outcome might take five or 10 years. So likely, you cannot rely on the return we’ll have we’ll call it return on investment. Basic, right? You have to enjoy what you do. Period. Right? And then hopefully, theoretically, there will be a return on investment but you cannot rely no turn on.

David Strauzz 1:15:23
And listen, I think like, the creative process is not necessarily about enjoyment as well. To be honest, I think that there’s a lot of suffering, I think that there’s the suffering, like it could be one day could be financial one day, it could be romantic, and all these, you know, joy, happy, sad, angry, mad, all these will inevitably spice and compliment the work that you do, you know, in your studio. So the spectrum of emotions, I think are important. But you really do have to, in the end, the next day, when you’re pissed off, and you wake up, you still have to go to the studio and do something or going you know, out out in the world and find some materials if you have to, or whatever, you know, acquire acquire. So yeah, so yeah. All right, an easy question, not an easy question.

Matthew Dols 1:16:12
Unfortunately, these questions are not easy. But what I’m finding over the course of this podcast like so the intention of the podcast is that no individual person has all the answers. But through all the sheer volume of conversations I have, there can be little things gleaned from this person, little source thing glean from that person. And somehow, I can sort of create a sense of what’s the most common, theoretical, conceptual, whatever kind of thing and it’s working. I have learned exponentially more by the my conversations with this podcast, and hopefully the listeners have as well, then I have by reading or watching videos, or whatever, of anything, because it’s the sheer volume of input that is yes, more helpful than like one person saying, this is the way to success, right? Because there is no one success. No, I like this industry, my

David Strauzz 1:17:08
history and what I’ve endured. I wish it on no one. Literally, by the way, how

Matthew Dols 1:17:13
old are you?

David Strauzz 1:17:13
I’m 43. Okay, I wish no one. But that’s my experience. That’s my life experience. Right? So many of the things that I’ve just spoken about are things that I’ve learned in my life, while I was learning to be a professional artists. So whether your listeners will take if there’s anything positive that they can get from it, I hope there is I’m not sure. So I think a lot of the people you’ve interviewed, you know, are providing their perspective, this is my perspective. take from it what you can what you will.

Matthew Dols 1:17:44
Okay, which leads on to the final question, which you have heard before, yes. Maybe not.

David Strauzz 1:17:50
Go ahead.

Matthew Dols 1:17:51
Okay. Final question that I asked everybody is basically, I have created an arbitrary. I’ve created an arbitrary goal, quantifiable task that I’m trying to achieve through the things that I learned from this podcast, which is, I’m trying to get a piece of one piece of my artwork, my existing artwork, on exhibition in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Yes. What should I do in my career to put me on the path to achieve that goal? What can you do? And just to be clear, whatever you’re going to tell me, I will actually do it. And I will make a podcast following the progress of my getting a piece of my work in azima, modern art on exhibition. So not in the collection, not a solo exhibition. But just one piece in an exhibition. I’m setting the standards a little low on a really high bar. Yeah, right. Well, it can be any museum. It could be Tate Modern, it could be any other museum you want. I chose museum modern art. That was my Yes, he can growing up. Yes.

David Strauzz 1:19:00
Well, as somebody that has not exhibited there, I don’t know what to share with you. Although I mean, what I spoke about earlier, is to live without that authenticity in terms of your work, to find as much honesty in your work as possible, and then connect with people who have, you know, who are either curators, galleries that have similar view, life view, that want to connect with other artists that, that have that philosophy in life? I think that like, I think it’s a natural process. To be honest, I think that like, inevitably, if you were, if it was fate for that to happen, I think that inevitably, it will. And that’s why for me and my work, I would love to be in some of the biggest galleries not only in Czech Republic, but throughout Europe. And I do believe that inevitably, I might have the chance. As long as that moment comes of opportunity. Maybe a little bit of luck. That will happen. But Matthew, I don’t know if I have an answer for you. Yeah, I mean, literally, I thought about even since we met You know, what would I say with Matthew asked me that question. And you know, how would I guide? My answer to that? And I think my, I’m living more kind of like short term, day to day, week to week, month to month, let alone like, next year, the next 10 years of where I want to be, I don’t know. How about that for a confusing answer,

Matthew Dols 1:20:19
it’s fine. The reason for it is because I mean, I made this podcast and it’s like, basically, I’m asking people to listen to this podcast, because theoretically, this podcast is about how to be more successful in your artistic careers. But yet, I can’t, quantifiably say yes, if you listen, you will be more successful, right, like, so I try, I created this arbitrary goal, basically. So if I can achieve that goal, then that means that everything I’ve learned from all these conversations does actually work. Yes.

David Strauzz 1:20:52
I mean, like, from a street art perspective, when you look at, let’s say, scope, or some of the really, really big art fairs, and the street artist that’d be represented there, you know, some of them have like 1000 walls already done, like 1000 murals, like, and not just little walls, like massive, huge murals. So if they’re there, then my objective is very clear in front of me is that I should be in the 150 200, walls range, and then I can feel in my career that I’m ready to be represented at scope or somewhere else. Right.

Matthew Dols 1:21:26
Well, which leads to a question that keeps coming up again and again, because like, I put this idea of being having a piece in museum modern art as a definition of success. Yeah, basically, what’s your definition of success?

David Strauzz 1:21:40
I mean, like, success is for me, living month to month, literally financially stable, you know, where I have collectors that I’ve engaged with, beyond collectors that they are become friends. I think my my success goals are more holistic, in that I like to live as a good person so that in that last moment of my life, that somebody in the future might say, hey, that guy was pretty cool. You know, like, he wasn’t absolutely an asshole. He was actually Okay, as

Matthew Dols 1:22:09
he was in the past. Yeah, that’s right.

David Strauzz 1:22:11
Like I’m shooting for okay. And that’s my lot. My personality is very Canadian. Yeah. And then, you know, if I can touch people through my artwork, and share my stories of struggle, and they get it, and they sense it, I think that would be my goal, literally, like, I know, it’s gonna make it might sound kind of kitsch, or, or cheesy. But literally, the concept of my artwork is about stories. It’s about the human experience. So if I can connect with people at that level, to now be happy.

Matthew Dols 1:22:40
Here, when I started this podcast, I created this arbitrary sort of task to try and achieve this and like, and I’ve had conversations with people about like, what is success and all this? And I’m like, realistically, my personal goal for my art. I mean, on the one hand, in my ego, I say, I want to be in the art history books. Yeah. Yeah, like, of course, everybody, every creative person wants to be that person. That’s the symbol of a movement, or a style or whatever. I knew that art history books. But on the realistic day to day basis, what I really want is I want to make enough money to be able to continue to make my work and be financially, he agreed from business exactly like agreed like that. But not even from a business perspective. Like, I want to just have enough money to make whatever I want to make without having to be concerned about money. So like, like, for instance, I’ve got this idea right now of this piece I want to make within kostik, which, of course, is reasonably expensive materials. So like, I just simply can’t, I have to put off making this piece for another couple months until I can see up some money to buy this, this this resource kind of thing. So like, I want to not have to do that. I want to be able to just buy whatever I want and make whatever I want to make when I want to make it Yes. And not put a burden on my household. Sure.

David Strauzz 1:23:53
Which as it’s your profession, right, so I understand that.

Matthew Dols 1:23:56
Yeah. Hopefully we can all achieve that goal.

David Strauzz 1:24:00
I agree. Good luck and good health. Indeed.

Matthew Dols 1:24:05
Thank you very much for your time.

David Strauzz 1:24:06
My pleasure. Thank you, Matthew.

The Wise Fool is produced by Fifty14. I am your host Matthew Dols – www.matthewdols.com

All information is available in the show notes or on our website www.wisefoolpod.com