Madsteez is mad cool. Not because hes rich nor because he seems like a very jolly man but Madsteez is a great fine artist that has also stretched himself very honestly into commercial work. Madsteez started out painting in his teens but after becoming disillusioned with art school he promptly left and got snatched up to do graphic design for a prominent skateboarding company. From there he rose up to become head of their design department but then left to travel the world. Since then hes established himself as one of the most exciting fine artists working in commercial artwork today. Besides doing campaigns for big companies he also has his own personal artwork that hes exhibited in showrooms all over the world. I got a chance to talk with the blithesome artist on the phone.
Check out the official site for Madsteez
Daniel Robert Epstein: Are you working on paintings today?
Madsteez: Lately Ive been doing a drawing of He-Man and She-Ra.
DRE: Is that artwork or an ad?
M: No, its artwork because theres a show going on in Vancouver and the theme is He-Man and She-Ra.
DRE: Thats awesome.
M: Its pretty cool, yeah. There are a bunch of cool artists like Mike Giant and Mister Cartoon. Those types of people are all submitting interesting material.
DRE: Are you painting He-Man and She-Ra together?
M: Actually they are in the normal pose that they are always in. I did this similar pose but instead of it being them, theyre black. He-Man and She-Ra are black and He-Man has a big gold chain on. If they were black this is what theyd look like.
DRE: Thats hysterical.
M: Its pretty funny because when I thought of that I was like That would be sweet.
DRE: I first heard of your work in an issue of Time Out in New York. Has this surge in your popularity been recent?
M: Id say its been building over the past three or four years.
DRE: Are you surprised at how much exposure that youve been getting even though its mostly web based?
M: Yeah, I still trip out that even anybody wants to look at what I do. I definitely trip out when people ask me to do something or when I get fan mail from kids saying I inspire them and that sort of thing. Its pretty weird to be looked at like that.
DRE: How would you describe your artwork?
M: I have two words that describes me and its Hey Dick. Hey Dick is more like a sarcasm and funny type thing. My whole personality is that Im not too serious and I think that comes out in my artwork because Im not doing politics and stuff like that. I want to be portrayed as having fun. I want to brighten your day. Im not about all the bullshit thats really going on, like its almost like a fake world that I live in. I dont know if that describes my actual artwork but thats what I try to portray.
DRE: I think I found another Madsteez having to do with snowboarding or is that you?
M: That might be me. Ive done graphics for Burton to this ecompany called Armada that I did stuff for. Theres actually another rapper called Madsteez but you dont really see his name that much.
DRE: What other mediums besides painting do you work in?
M: I do video stuff as well. Photography, I have a clothing line, pretty much anything that you can be creative with Ill do.
DRE: But recently its been the painting stuff thats gotten the most attention.
M: Right, I would say my paintings are what also gets me my client work as well because people see that and it gets them to contact me and say hey, we want you to do this and what Ill do for them wont be painting, itll be like ad type work or collaborations on t-shirts or products. But definitely my painting is my main thing.
DRE: Does it ever feel tough to do work for companies like that since youre taking what you do in your artwork and then making something commercial?
M: I feel actually lucky because Im also a graphic designer. Thats my main job where you wouldnt even know that Madsteez made stuff, but for stuff that I commercially put out, Im actually quite selective with companies. So it has to fit my style, its not like Im reaching out to work on a Mountain Dew can. Im really strategic in who I choose so it doesnt come out wrong.
DRE: What do you use to create your paintings?
M: Acrylic, spray paint, paint, whatever gets the job done. Ill even use stupid kids crayons because I have a two year old son so he has stuff for coloring and Im like Ill use that.
DRE: Your paintings have a real hip-hop feel to them. Were you a graffiti artist first?
M: I started doing street art around the same time as I was doing gallery pieces.
DRE: Were you tagging all over the place?
M: No, I wouldnt call myself a graffiti artist just because those guys are so gnarly and theyre doing it all the time. I have a family and shit so I cant really afford to be arrested. Id feel like a pussy to call myself a graffiti artist but every once in a while I get up and I have fun. I think its fun more than anything. Im not out there to prove a point like getting my name across the whole city.
DRE: Is music a big influence on your artwork?
M: Yeah, musics a huge influence, just from listening to it and getting inspired by it while I paint. Even musicians appearances sometimes do it for me like David Bowie and stuff like that.
DRE: What music do you listen to while you work?
M: Everything. My style looks like urban type art but I also listen to The Sounds and hipster type stuff and even oldies.
DRE: Was there anything specific that inspired the artwork in the New York show?
M: That had a double storyline. I have these characters that are called Ween!mals and then my main character is named Weeneze and I had a seven foot, thousand pound sculpture that I did of him in the middle of the floor. His back story is that I brought him to New York with me and he got lost in the city and I was doing a tribute show to him. Then my latest piece was of Dennis Hopper.
DRE: I read you were inspired by photography show of Dennis Hoppers work.
M: Yeah thats the one.
DRE: I saw that show in LA.
M: Oh cool, at The Ace Gallery in Beverly Hills.
DRE: Yeah, I just happened to be walking by and saw an ad for the show. It was awesome.
M: I know, that was the coolest shit Ive ever seen. Hopper is like 70 years old so for him to still be exhibiting art and doing all this crazy shit at that age is badass. If I was 70 years old and a 26 year old kid rolled into my show and thought it was rad thats when I would feel like my life was meaningful in some way. I just wanted to do an ode to him for making me feel like that.
DRE: I read that you met Hopper, what did he think?
M: I was nervous like a little kid but he was blown away. He was even speechless a little bit. He was like No ones ever done anything like this for me. He was just ecstatic. The emotions that he was expressing were really cool. He was saying how great of an artist I was and pumping me up. So I was like Man, this is about you.
DRE: How did you pick the name Madsteez?
M: Gang Starr has a song called You Know My Steez. With me being over obsessive with words, every word that I was saying during that time period was Steez. Then at the same time, Im a weird dresser, I guess you could say and I was wearing these stupid outfits and everyone was like He has madsteez. The words just melded together and just transferred onto me being Madsteez.
DRE: Did you ever get asked to do ads for something that you feel is totally inappropriate for you artwork?
M: I recently did a brand name campaign for Target which was weird because of how mass consumer they are. But for some reason, it reflected my artwork a little. It wont come out for another three years because they are doing a whole action sport line. I probably would have said no but since I do have a kid I do go to Target all the time and I always buy shit there. Its a place that I can accept and I actually like. They have cool shit there so I figured I would do it. Of course, money does talk sometimes.
DRE: It needs to be done sometimes, right?
M: Yes it does.
DRE: At what point did you start making a living off of all this stuff?
M: About when I was 18. I got lucky.
DRE: What happened?
M: It was my first semester at college at Cal State Long Beach. They supposedly had this great graphic design program and I couldnt even get into the classes because you had to take two years worth of prerequisites bullshit. I went to the final class and just sat there to see what I would come out with. The teacher showed his portfolio and I felt like I was better than the teacher because Ive been doing this shit since I was like 14. There was no way I could stick around for two or four years just to do what this guy can do because I can do it now. After I left I ended up getting a job with Rusty Surfboards as an assistant graphic designer that same week. Six months later I was the one coming up with all the concepts and all the cool ideas so I became the art director. I was 18 years old art directing a 60 million dollar company. Then when I was 20 I quit and traveled and did all that shit.
DRE: How did you get into doing artwork at age 14?
M: I had an art class but it was just something that was easy for me to get an easy grade. I ended up being a sales rep for a web program like Dreamweaver and this is when I was 14 so websites werent even really invented. When I was doing that, I ended up learning the program. So I started putting together websites and everyones websites were so boring so I started to put my artwork towards building websites and everything melded together. I ended up making money by building peoples websites that looked cooler than what they could have done on their own. Then from there I went more into the art side.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official site for Madsteez
Daniel Robert Epstein: Are you working on paintings today?
Madsteez: Lately Ive been doing a drawing of He-Man and She-Ra.
DRE: Is that artwork or an ad?
M: No, its artwork because theres a show going on in Vancouver and the theme is He-Man and She-Ra.
DRE: Thats awesome.
M: Its pretty cool, yeah. There are a bunch of cool artists like Mike Giant and Mister Cartoon. Those types of people are all submitting interesting material.
DRE: Are you painting He-Man and She-Ra together?
M: Actually they are in the normal pose that they are always in. I did this similar pose but instead of it being them, theyre black. He-Man and She-Ra are black and He-Man has a big gold chain on. If they were black this is what theyd look like.
DRE: Thats hysterical.
M: Its pretty funny because when I thought of that I was like That would be sweet.
DRE: I first heard of your work in an issue of Time Out in New York. Has this surge in your popularity been recent?
M: Id say its been building over the past three or four years.
DRE: Are you surprised at how much exposure that youve been getting even though its mostly web based?
M: Yeah, I still trip out that even anybody wants to look at what I do. I definitely trip out when people ask me to do something or when I get fan mail from kids saying I inspire them and that sort of thing. Its pretty weird to be looked at like that.
DRE: How would you describe your artwork?
M: I have two words that describes me and its Hey Dick. Hey Dick is more like a sarcasm and funny type thing. My whole personality is that Im not too serious and I think that comes out in my artwork because Im not doing politics and stuff like that. I want to be portrayed as having fun. I want to brighten your day. Im not about all the bullshit thats really going on, like its almost like a fake world that I live in. I dont know if that describes my actual artwork but thats what I try to portray.
DRE: I think I found another Madsteez having to do with snowboarding or is that you?
M: That might be me. Ive done graphics for Burton to this ecompany called Armada that I did stuff for. Theres actually another rapper called Madsteez but you dont really see his name that much.
DRE: What other mediums besides painting do you work in?
M: I do video stuff as well. Photography, I have a clothing line, pretty much anything that you can be creative with Ill do.
DRE: But recently its been the painting stuff thats gotten the most attention.
M: Right, I would say my paintings are what also gets me my client work as well because people see that and it gets them to contact me and say hey, we want you to do this and what Ill do for them wont be painting, itll be like ad type work or collaborations on t-shirts or products. But definitely my painting is my main thing.
DRE: Does it ever feel tough to do work for companies like that since youre taking what you do in your artwork and then making something commercial?
M: I feel actually lucky because Im also a graphic designer. Thats my main job where you wouldnt even know that Madsteez made stuff, but for stuff that I commercially put out, Im actually quite selective with companies. So it has to fit my style, its not like Im reaching out to work on a Mountain Dew can. Im really strategic in who I choose so it doesnt come out wrong.
DRE: What do you use to create your paintings?
M: Acrylic, spray paint, paint, whatever gets the job done. Ill even use stupid kids crayons because I have a two year old son so he has stuff for coloring and Im like Ill use that.
DRE: Your paintings have a real hip-hop feel to them. Were you a graffiti artist first?
M: I started doing street art around the same time as I was doing gallery pieces.
DRE: Were you tagging all over the place?
M: No, I wouldnt call myself a graffiti artist just because those guys are so gnarly and theyre doing it all the time. I have a family and shit so I cant really afford to be arrested. Id feel like a pussy to call myself a graffiti artist but every once in a while I get up and I have fun. I think its fun more than anything. Im not out there to prove a point like getting my name across the whole city.
DRE: Is music a big influence on your artwork?
M: Yeah, musics a huge influence, just from listening to it and getting inspired by it while I paint. Even musicians appearances sometimes do it for me like David Bowie and stuff like that.
DRE: What music do you listen to while you work?
M: Everything. My style looks like urban type art but I also listen to The Sounds and hipster type stuff and even oldies.
DRE: Was there anything specific that inspired the artwork in the New York show?
M: That had a double storyline. I have these characters that are called Ween!mals and then my main character is named Weeneze and I had a seven foot, thousand pound sculpture that I did of him in the middle of the floor. His back story is that I brought him to New York with me and he got lost in the city and I was doing a tribute show to him. Then my latest piece was of Dennis Hopper.
DRE: I read you were inspired by photography show of Dennis Hoppers work.
M: Yeah thats the one.
DRE: I saw that show in LA.
M: Oh cool, at The Ace Gallery in Beverly Hills.
DRE: Yeah, I just happened to be walking by and saw an ad for the show. It was awesome.
M: I know, that was the coolest shit Ive ever seen. Hopper is like 70 years old so for him to still be exhibiting art and doing all this crazy shit at that age is badass. If I was 70 years old and a 26 year old kid rolled into my show and thought it was rad thats when I would feel like my life was meaningful in some way. I just wanted to do an ode to him for making me feel like that.
DRE: I read that you met Hopper, what did he think?
M: I was nervous like a little kid but he was blown away. He was even speechless a little bit. He was like No ones ever done anything like this for me. He was just ecstatic. The emotions that he was expressing were really cool. He was saying how great of an artist I was and pumping me up. So I was like Man, this is about you.
DRE: How did you pick the name Madsteez?
M: Gang Starr has a song called You Know My Steez. With me being over obsessive with words, every word that I was saying during that time period was Steez. Then at the same time, Im a weird dresser, I guess you could say and I was wearing these stupid outfits and everyone was like He has madsteez. The words just melded together and just transferred onto me being Madsteez.
DRE: Did you ever get asked to do ads for something that you feel is totally inappropriate for you artwork?
M: I recently did a brand name campaign for Target which was weird because of how mass consumer they are. But for some reason, it reflected my artwork a little. It wont come out for another three years because they are doing a whole action sport line. I probably would have said no but since I do have a kid I do go to Target all the time and I always buy shit there. Its a place that I can accept and I actually like. They have cool shit there so I figured I would do it. Of course, money does talk sometimes.
DRE: It needs to be done sometimes, right?
M: Yes it does.
DRE: At what point did you start making a living off of all this stuff?
M: About when I was 18. I got lucky.
DRE: What happened?
M: It was my first semester at college at Cal State Long Beach. They supposedly had this great graphic design program and I couldnt even get into the classes because you had to take two years worth of prerequisites bullshit. I went to the final class and just sat there to see what I would come out with. The teacher showed his portfolio and I felt like I was better than the teacher because Ive been doing this shit since I was like 14. There was no way I could stick around for two or four years just to do what this guy can do because I can do it now. After I left I ended up getting a job with Rusty Surfboards as an assistant graphic designer that same week. Six months later I was the one coming up with all the concepts and all the cool ideas so I became the art director. I was 18 years old art directing a 60 million dollar company. Then when I was 20 I quit and traveled and did all that shit.
DRE: How did you get into doing artwork at age 14?
M: I had an art class but it was just something that was easy for me to get an easy grade. I ended up being a sales rep for a web program like Dreamweaver and this is when I was 14 so websites werent even really invented. When I was doing that, I ended up learning the program. So I started putting together websites and everyones websites were so boring so I started to put my artwork towards building websites and everything melded together. I ended up making money by building peoples websites that looked cooler than what they could have done on their own. Then from there I went more into the art side.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Borderline inconclusive.
Good interview though.