Right now, Chaz, together with Anne Derian, is preparing for an exhibition titled "Look What Architecture Made Us Do" in Berlin at Weserstraße 168. It will be his first exhibition, which is very exciting! He hopes to see everyone there, so if you're in the area, make sure to stop by!
To learn more about this new endeavor of Chaz, we asked him how transitioning from digital platforms to a physical exhibition has influenced his creative process. "Oh, it’s been really fun! I mean, it's a lot harder to fix your mistakes, and I've absolutely had that awkward moment where I've tried tapping the page with two fingers to 'undo' something as if I'm still on an iPad," the artist shared. "As for the work itself, presenting stuff in a gallery space provides a lot of new opportunities for jokes that wouldn't work online. With any luck, it should be a really fun show to experience, full of little in-jokes and surprises."
Chaz shared that his career as an illustrator started with a few comics he sent to a group chat. They convinced him to put them on Instagram, which he thought was a terrible idea, so he did it to prove them wrong. "A few months later, my Instagram had 100k followers, and I was offered a book deal. I've been doing this ever since. So, yeah—I had to concede that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all."
Chaz's illustrations often feature self-deprecating humor, so we asked the artist what draws him to this style. He replied that it’s much easier and more enjoyable to make fun of yourself than someone else. "But generally, I'd say the humor is more 'relatable' than 'self-deprecating.' In that regard, it's essentially just a neat comedy trick—when people see a comic and can go 'Oh god, that's me,' it's immediately appreciated!"
Returning to the exhibition, we asked Chaz what themes or messages he hopes attendees will take away from seeing his work in person. The illustrator explained that the upcoming show is a double act. "I'll be sharing the space with the artist Anne Derian, who has a completely different style from mine. However, we both used to work in architecture, hence the name of the show, 'Look What Architecture Made Us Do.' In that regard, it's a reference to our shared artistic origin point and also a celebration of our escape from it!
Preparation for both of us has basically involved sitting at home and drawing as much as we can before the deadline."
For Chaz, the most rewarding part of preparing for the exhibition has been experimenting with some canvases. "I never paint, and admittedly, starting to do paintings on canvas just two weeks before a show probably isn't the smartest idea, but I seem to have gotten away with it! So that's been a relief."
