five questions: mad steez

The artist known as Madsteez was born with three first names (Mark Paul Deren) in the state of Virginia just outside of the nation's capital -- and yes, he could only see out of one eye. You'd never guess that a kid who was born blind in one eye would become a successful artist but then again that's the story of all the greats isn't it? As an artist Madsteez is known for painting on gigantic canvases (see above photo for example) and for depicting recognizable characters in an abstract manner. He's worked in collaboration with Nike, Stussy, Boost Mobile, Rusty, Ben Sherman, and even legendary actor Dennis Hopper. We got a call from one of our good friends who said Deren would be in town and we could meet up with him, and of course we were stoked to. It turns out Pac Sun tapped Deren to paint his gigantic, abstract renditions of Vanilla Ice, MC Hammer and Biz Markie -- all greats in their own right. It was mind-blowing to see how fast this dude works and how strong his personal style is. If you take a look at his instgram HERE you can see what we mean by fast…he killed the project in a day! After he was done painting we sat down to talk for a few and ask five questions, of course. He's definitely one of our new favorite artists, he's rad beyond the art stuff too. Check out more on him HERE and follow him on twitter HERE. Now we're going to go broke buying his prints and T-shirts.

What was the last movie you saw in the theatre? Wolverine, it's pretty decent.

What was the first car you owned?It was a Honda Civic but I called it "The Black Ferrari"

What was the first record you bought?Fugazi.

What was the first live show you went to?The Melvins at the Troubadour. I was 17 and we snuck through a hatch on the roof.

What posters were hanging on your bedroom wall in High School?Cindy Crawford, The Barbie Twins, and Shane Dorian.