the street is our gallery

We ‘ve been excited to talk to 2 contemporary artists from the Netherlands who make one epic alliance. They have travelled all over and have never walked away from a project without leaving people scratching their heads in awe! Continue below and enjoy this wonderful double interview with TELMO and MIEL.

(ISSA) -What do you choose to drink? Coffee, Tea, Beer, Soda or something else?
(Miel) I drink coffee in the morning, soda in the afternoon and water and some more coffee in the evening.
(Telmo) I drink milk.

-Please introduce yourself to us! 

Dutch street art duo TELMO MIEL, that is Telmo Pieper & Miel Krützmann.

– Where do your tag names come from?
We are unusually using our original names. It’s all in our passports and stuff.

-How do you define yourself? Artist? Street artist? Anything else?
Miel; I just like working with my hands and creating things. So i would call it Hand job guy, but that sounds too much like i only work for myself so let’s say: Mural painter?
Telmo; Image maker or Muralist. We do a lot more than painting murals but that is for sure the thing we love most.

– How did it all start for you, and what is it nowadays?
Miel; As a little kid during the beginnings of internet i would stare at pictures of graffiti overseas. Artists like Daim, Ces(fx), Toast and later on ma’claim crew had my interest. And that inspiration motivated me to start doing stuff with spray can. Nowadays it’s my passion and the way i get the food on the table, so it carries a lot more pressure than in those days of the start. But we get a lot of opportunities – and it amazes me how the internet gave me the initial signs for a brighter world with creating murals. Also, it still helps us today with finding the right partners and clients etc.

Telmo; It started with birth, I really can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making or creating some kind of artwork. The love for Art is always there. In kindergarten I didn’t have time for making sandcastles, block buildings or playing with dolls. Their drawing table was my territory.
Later on in High school, I got paid with lunch money by doing art class assignments for the other students.  Art college was the place I met Miel. He got me hooked on the spray cans and the world of street art and graffiti. We started working together and never stopped painting since. The never-ending drive, love and need for producing our own thing is what got us this far. And will hopefully bring us even further.

-What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
Miel; Sadly the first thing is a cigarette, and sadly i enjoy it every time.
Telmo; Start procrastinating by not getting directly out of bed.

-Street art is mostly a visually stimulating form of art. To add one more sense to it, what music would you pick to accompany your art work?
Maybe a triple combination of Spooky Black & Bobby Raps’s song motionless, stirred with Sevdaliza’s song Marilyn Monroe and on top sprinkles of Daft Punk.

-In all forms of art, inspiration is crucial. What inspires you?
We find inspiration in anything. It could be trash on the floor, people in the streets or pictures on the web. Even this interview is inspirational, never had these kind of questions… it’s like fresh air (seriously).

-Before going to paint, what is on your check list to take along?
Gloves / GasMask / Cans / Nozzle’s / Hopefully a Sketch / Water and Redbull’s.

-Do you have an artist you admire and what for?
Miel; I have a couple. I admire guys like Wes21 & Onur for use of subjects. Borondo for keeping it loose. Robert Proch for his color use. etc. etc. There’s a lot of cool stuff out there these days.

Telmo; For me it’s kind of the same. But I can definitely add Etam Crew and Herakut on the admire list. The Work of Ron English is also something I enjoy a lot, especially the language of his work.

-Which cities do you think are the most inspirational in Street Art?
Telmo; I think Wynwood in Miami was most impressive to us, just the quantity is insane.

Miel; Gemona del Friuli in Italy, all the stuff they do with 10 years of festivals (Elementi Sotteranei) is crazy. And everything stays preserved.

-Do you have other passions apart from art?
Besides art Miel is focussing on music and Telmo more on Photography.

-What is your wildest project that you dream of achieving some day?
Telmo; Painting on the Moon.

Miel; Painting a commercial Airbus would be fun.

-Does your art include symbolisms, messages or repeated patterns?
We don’t always intend there to be symbolism, but people often seem to think there is. Most important thing is that the art speaks to the viewer, if not specific in concept then in abstract form or feeling.

-What is your reaction when you realise someone has vandalised your creation?
Reaction would be: We still have the Pictures! It sucks a little sometimes – but that’s just the way it is with painting in the streets.

-What do you think people first think or feel when they see one of your works on the street?
The thing we hear most, and we hear a lot of things, is that people don’t believe that it’s possible to paint that big and get it correct in shape. But i hope that when we leave, people will walk by and at least have a little smile.

– If you were a world leader what would you change?
Telmo; Fund space research, get people inspired to explore. This tiny blue rock won’t support us forever. And then of course be one of the first Space Artist’s painting something out of this world.
Miel; I would want to change a lot of things, but world leader isn’t the same as god. So let’s start with giving 90 procent of european football players’ salary to the sick and less fortunate (Animal or Human).

– Is there a question you think is important but no one ever asked you?
Isn’t it difficult to follow your own path when you have to compromise on every wall because you work in duo form?

-Do you have any interesting creative plans for the future?
We are looking forward to the SPECTRUM / RISE exhibition and festival we are attending the end of this year in New Zealand!

-It’s been great to get to know more about the minds and persons behind such talented and inspiring works. Thank you from the ‘’I Support Street Art’’ team.
Thank you! Happy to know you enjoy our work. And thanks for helping us spreading it around!

You can see plenty more artworks of TELMO MIEL here.

(TELMO MIEL Photo By SELINA MILES)

Follow Telmo Miel on facebook!

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