Meet David Strauzz | Urban Contemporary / Street Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Strauzz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The idea to start Galerie Mega was to fill a gap in the Czech Republic. I wanted to represent the Graffiti and Street Art scene here which is full of talent. These artists have not received a fair opportunity to exhibit their artworks in private galleries in my opinion more than likely because they have not built a network within the academic art community. I had the idea for a while, and my first space, a glass display in the subway underground, was offered to me for free soon after. The name came to me rather quickly. ‘ MEGA’ is large, very positive and is an abbreviation of “MEtro GAllery”.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
This question could be answered in a book, that would not be much different from other artist’s stories. I left art school to start an engineering business with my father to make money. The more money I made, the farther I strayed from my art practice. However, my best friend Greg, who I met in art school, knew that we had to come back to our artistic roots and started to collaborate. Long story short, we started to exhibit passively while we both worked at jobs outside of the art world. I was making good money, and became a functioning alcoholic because I was not happy with my job / life. My wife was offered a job working at Harvard Medical School, so we packed our bags and I was able to find a studio in Allston, MA where I started to clean up my life, and painted regularly. In 2013, my mother died of cancer and that was the turning point where I said to myself, I would put all of my efforts, hourly, daily and weekly towards art. My mother inspired my art when she was alive, and now she is doing it from heaven. I paint primarily abstract portraits, to share stories of the human experience. Since COVID, my purpose has never been more important to me. I want to inspire people who see my artwork to de-isolate themselves, and to connect with a community so we can start to heal from our various struggles. As I write this, it is exactly one year since my father died of cancer as well. I am not alone. We all have stories to tell.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is a funny question, because my best friend Greg hates to travel and I have been begging him to come to Prague since I got here 8 years ago.

Most definitely we would start walking the historical, old town square and follow the path to the Prague Castle. From there, we would continue to Letna and have a few beers at the beer garden. We would see Prague from all of the major viewpoints such as Vysehrad, Petrin, and other.s and then we would go see my studio in Pragovka Arts District. The rest of the week would be a combination of art galleries, museums and medieval castles that are close to Prague.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would shout out to the art school I went to in London, Ontario, Canada; Beal Art School My best friend, gallerist and amazing abstract landscape painter; Greg Benz
My family for supporting me throughout my journey as an artist
My collectors
And most importantly My wife, Bethany for life!

Website: Www.davidstrauzz.com or www.galeriemega.com.

Instagram: @davidstrauzz or @galeriemega

Image Credits
David Strauzz (Black & White Photo) by Ondrej Duffek