1) Alright so first off thanks for taking the time to do this interview! How long have you been in the game, what crew do you rep and how did you get the name Teso?
Hi my name is TESO1 I started painting in’ 96 at the age of 14. I live in the splendid city of Naples, Italy full of social, historical and artistic tension, living in this place was the inspiration behind my name. I am currently a part of the Capras and Nsis crews.
In parallel with graffiti, I deal with contemporary art, moving from painting to installation. In recent years I have started creating mineral t-shirts with conceptual pop characters that you can see on my website at:
https://teso1.com
The basis of my philosophy is experimentation, particularly in the use of plastic materials.
2) I see you do a lot of collabs with other artists, would you say this is one of your favorite things about graffiti? It definitely seems unique to graffiti, most other visual arts have you playing solo but I hear from graffiti artists all the time that one of the coolest things about graffiti is the people you meet.
Yes of course, painting together with friends or people you’ve only talked to on social media is an inspiring moment of connection and exchange of ideas. Events are fundamental for connecting with other people and tuning into other realities, at the same time I also love painting alone, because I’m used to it! The important thing is to keep painting!
3) How would you compare the Italian graffiti scene when you first started out to how it is today? Who are the graffiti artists that you looked up to when you started?
I remember in 1996 in Naples it was very full of writers and the 5 disciplines of hip hop dominated the streets of the historic center and the suburbs, among the writers who inspired me I mention Shaone (KTM), Eno, Ozon (NGC), and Wert and Ultra301 from NSIS.
4) What’s your go-to hip hop artist to listen to while you’re working? Who would you say is underappreciated in either hip hop or graffiti that deserves more recognition?
I listen to everything while I work, my favorite artists are Company flow, cannibal ox, El-p, but I also listen to a lot of recent music especially Neapolitan rap.
5) If someone was wanting to follow in your footsteps what kind of advice would you give? What separates the greats from people who don’t make it, in your opinion?
The advice I have to give is to try, make mistakes, and study others! In everything you do you need passion and perseverance if your relationship with graffiti is visceral you will never abandon it. By that I mean you have to love it, it’s inseparable from you. If I don’t paint, I feel bad so I keep going with it.
6) Where do you see yourself in a few years? Do you see yourself doing something completely different then what you do now, or just continue expanding within the graffiti/art scene in different ways?
Yes, of course, in a few years I hope to be able to enrich this journey with new experiences, I would like to go to the cities where I have not yet painted, and to hold an important anthological exhibition.
7) What’s your favorite documentary or book on graffiti history?
Well there are two fanzines, that had a huge impact on me coming up: the first being the magazine AL which introduced me to graffiti happening around the world and Italy. Graphotism was another one, way more adult content there but it was huge inspiration. I recently just got my hands on one of their VHS tapes. Good memories.
8) Thanks again for taking the time out to chat, Any shoutouts you would like to give? Where can people follow you?
Thanks for giving me the chance to tell my story, you guys can follow me on instagram at: teso_cprsnsis
