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From synthetic and natural drugs to sex and gambling, the vices of our society have always been a big inspiration for art all around the world. Typically shown in scenes or abstract paintings, the true essence of our humanity has yet to be expressed until now. If you do not know who Daniel Cohen is, chances are you have already seen his art in collections or on your social media timeline. As one of the most talked about artists of our time, Cohen creates interesting yet thought provoking pieces of art tailored to a vision of highlighting the addictive pressures of the world around us. Beginning as pieces showing the “nutritional” facts of drugs and other avenues of addiction, it has soon transformed into a periodic table of addiction one might say. Similar to how an element would appear on the table, Cohen has taken this unique idea and used it to create pieces showing the addictive properties and side effects. From Greed and Sex, to designer drugs like Adderall, these pieces sell out in minutes from being posted on his website.
Shortly after registering the domain name thisisaddictive.com, and social media handles using the same persona, his first art piece was commissioned and sold to the president of the UFC which kickstarted his career. While going to school, Daniel used his creativity to print his unique designs on clothing and selling to students and their friends and family which morphed into a successful clothing line. While working full time as a student, and growing his clothing brand, Daniel also worked as a bartender at a restaurant near the University he attended. While there a close friend introduced him to a well-known music producer, a fan of Daniel’s art, who commissioned him to make a sculpture which was not only a catalyst to push him full time into an art career but added financial stability to do so. At the age of 29, Daniel decided to jump in with both feet, and decided to leave everything behind to peruse his passion and calling. Maxing out multiple lines of credit and investing a small loan from his family into his art career, he took to New York from New Jersey to begin his journey. While drowning in debt, Daniel went with his friends to an art gala in The Hamptons, and in the first weekend sold out, four of his sculptures being bought by the owner of the Miami Dolphins. From there it has been smooth sailing to success. Although Daniel has had success with his art career, he continues to create new and aesthetic pieces not only with sculptures and unique pieces but photography as well.
It is easy to see him emulate his inspiration, Elon Musk, through his hard work, dedication to his craft, ability to manage risk, and use his calculated relentlessness and tenacity to achieve his goals. For those looking for inspiration to create or achieve the same way Mr. Cohen has, he has a few words on inspiration to guide you in the right direction. “Inspiration is everywhere you look. From the internet of things and social media, to the radio and street art there is a lot of noise and inspiration everywhere you look. Society is moving at a fast pace and there is a lot of noise so it is how you manage and use the inspiration, not find it”. For those looking to get inspired to start chasing their dreams or reaching their goals, Daniel has a few pieces of advice. First, never burn your bridges, it is not without connections, friends, and family to get to where you want to go. Second, Do what you gut tells you to do, the thing you should trust most is your instinct and to act and execute on those ideas. And lastly, the best has yet to come, never settle for where you are and continue to drive towards your idea of success to reach levels you never thought you could obtain yourself. Not only an artist, but as an entrepreneur as well Daniel has a busy schedule with no days off. A typical day starts at 5:00 am sharp answering emails, social media messages, collaboration meetings, and prepping a list of daily tasks. After that, it is to the gym to get physically and mentally fired up and then it is straight to the studio. From then until late evening, Daniel grinds his ideas into fruition finishing pieces he has started and creating new ones from scratch. At 8:00 pm Daniel heads home to eat, delegate tasks for the rest of the week, collaborate and run meetings, and browse inspiration for his next pieces. Although this busy schedule has been a vehicle to success and perfection of his craft, it is not without sacrifice of personal time and relationships this was achieved. As Daniel coasts closer to the pinnacle of success in where he wants to be, he hopes to continue to grow his business and start a few other ventures along the way while building relationships with his friends and family from the time lost in his dedication to the craft. If you are not already following Daniel’s accounts on Instagram we strongly encourage you to do so. Go follow @thisisaddictive and @feenysphoto to draw inspiration and light up your timeline.
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