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Valextra meets Pietro Terzini
The young Milanese artist on his trajectory and turning meme-art on its head.
If you haven’t seen Pietro Terzini’s graffiti-style takeovers of the world’s biggest luxury brands, you’ll be familiar with his Instagram account from where his meme-art goes viral. Here, the Milan native talks us through his trajectory, his takeovers and turning Instagram into the pop-culture epicentre of its time.
Valextra: Buongiorno Pietro, we’d love to hear how you get started in the world of art and design?
Pietro Terzini: So, I studied as an architect for five years and after I graduated, I finished a masters in marketing which opened up the digital field. I started working for Chiara Ferragni and [her website] The Blonde Salad where I was Head of Digital and Commerce Manager. That was 2016 and it was the explosion of Instagram. Before that, everyone was on Facebook and Instagram was considered the app for photographers – when people started using Instagram it was a sparkling period to create content. For me, it was a lot about [the balance] of creativity and commercial side of things and it offered me the possibility to understand the needs of the brands in a commercial world and to transform these needs into creativity.
V: Had you already started painting by that point?
PT: In that year, I was also doing my paintings, but they were super abstract, they were inspired by my final year of university where we were concerned with abstract art. Working with Chiara opened up new possibilities because during those years in the office, we received a lot of gifts from the brands and all the packaging from these brands were thrown away. When I saw them, I said, ‘Wow this packaging is super beautiful’, there was Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Prada – the colours were beautiful - so I started to collect them in my room in Milan which quickly became full of bags and shoppers. I didn’t know what to do with this stuff – I collected them because I liked their graphics and their colours but then I decided to use them to make art pieces that were completely different from what I was doing. So I opened them up and transformed them into canvases – and started writing things on them that related with the imagery of the brands and their identity.
V: How does the inspiration for the words you paint come to you?
PT: Sometimes, in a funny way, they are playful words that work with the name of the brands. I started to put them on Instagram, and it was considered ‘meme art’ which was quite new in the world of fashion. From there, I started talking with art galleries and made collaborations with brands. It was something that worked well in the world of fashion, not just because it’s handmade and funny, but because it helps the brands I have collaborated with to make an easy and accessible communication with its customers. It’s [inherently] linked to the people.
V: Do you like the idea of democratising art in a luxury space in that way?
PT: Yes, if you think about our contemporary world, you can open your phone or computer and there are these campaigns everywhere from the luxury brands who less than 10 years ago were completely closed are giving their things to influencers and normal people. Now, these super high-end brands are in the [everyday] lives of the people. They’re not just interested in selling products, but the philosophy of living. If you think about how brands incorporate political messages and inclusivity, they are the main channels to talk about the fight of the people. I decided to work with the packaging [because it’s] literally the thing that’s in the hands of the people.
V: So, how do you decide who you want to work with?
There is no particular way that I select the brands I work with. I prefer to use [well known] brands because the audience can more easily understand the [subversive] meaning of the things that I do. But sometimes, I select something smaller that’s in the awareness of the people because the idea is a good one. There’s no hard and fast rule.
V: How did the collaboration evolve with Valextra?
PT: To me, working with Valextra and other great brands is always an honour. The world is made of [around] seven billion people and when a brand that has existed for decades chooses you to do something, it’s an honour. Coming from architecture, Valextra is a brand that takes a lot of inspiration from architecture since the beginning and is loved by architects; I could never imagine that one day if I was to work with Valextra it would be to have graffiti [on a tag]! It’s a surprise and it’s something that pushed me to have ideas.
V: What’s the thought process behind the tag you made for us?
PT: For Valextra, I brought “Less is more, but (Val)extra is better”; the meaning is that everybody says less is more, [and they] enjoy little things, but [people] say that because they don’t have the extra. I know people who have the extra and they don’t come back. They can try and say the small things are the best things, but at the end of the day, it’s linked to an inner part of our soul that pushes us to grow and have more. In this case, it works with the name of the brand. Valextra is a minimal brand – it’s even better! But in the end, it’s a statement of life.
V: How would you describe your aesthetic?
PT: I think the things I do are linked to pop culture. The aesthetic of pop culture is different from the era in which it was born. If you think of the Sixties and the world of Andy Warhol, it has a clear aesthetic, whereas the main change in recent human history is the invention of the internet and social media. Social media completely changed the way people interact, see their lives, and see other people’s lives. [It’s a way] to talk in an easy and understandable way to the public of our time.
V: In the same sense, there seems to be a strong anthropological influence on both your artwork and your viral Instagram posts?
PT: Yes, the direct messages I make with my mobile are in the pop-culture conversation because there are some ideas that are my ideas, but they are shared by the majority of the audience. They capture the spirit of the time; relationships and love. There are also other topics like the flux of time and ambition. All my posts are driven by an idea of improvement and ambition in a positive way. Then there is the topic of the dream, the struggle, and the others. There’re things linked to my life which I usually write in the evening because tthey are my reflections of the day or are driven by something that has happened. [Ultimately they form] the photography in this era; it will evolve for sure - if you think even five years ago, the panorama was totally different – but this is the photography of this period, a period where the world is interconnected and it’s very confused about feelings.
V: You studied architecture and now your art is graffitied over some of the most revered architectural blocks in Milan, Paris, and others. What do you like about this juxtaposition?
PT: My days in architecture were super important. I started at 19 and finished when I was 24 years old. In those years, I studied and worked a lot as architecture is not a faculty where you have to study a lot of books, but you have to look at a lot of images. I would wake up at 7am and go to bed at 3 or 4am because I had to make drawings and models, but it was super important to understand the process that something needs to be built. Now, I’m making graffiti and drawings, but the process of how I think of where to put them or use my digital instruments is completely the same. As a creative, you need to find your way and your form of expression because until you find it you cannot sleep! It’s never finished. In the end, the audience sees a sentence but the process behind is never ending. I’m able to do it because I was trained by years of architecture, not sleeping and always searching for the way to make something,
V: Sometimes the most impressive forms of art and expression are made to look easy but are the opposite. Do you relate to that?
PT: There is an expression in ancient Roman Latin that talks about the poems written by the ancient Greeks. It goes, [sic] ‘We have the poems, but then we have to take away things until we find the essence of it.” Music can be the same. Songs can start with lots of instruments, but [only when] you start to take things away [do you] find the perfect balance that works. My writing seems to be complex, but its super minimal. One of the masters of architecture was Mies van der Rohe who became the director of the Bauhaus and it’s from him that I’m inspired to take away everything. When I do my [Instagram] posts, I open my phone, I type the message and in three seconds I post it. It could be made by anybody; it’s the most minimalistic way to communicate. There are a lot of Instagram accounts that share messages, but there are more layers. Sometimes they are made in Photoshop or there is a fake graphic and it is less effective.
V: Do you have a motto of your own?
PT: I have one that I invented when I was 21 or 22 at university, I’ll translate from Italian, it means, more or less, “Between saying and doing, it’s better not to say and do with your mouth closed.” Basically, don’t speak, just do! A building is not made by words, The essence is to work hard and don’t say anything about it to anybody. It’s not easy. When I reached a goal, it’s easy to talk about it to your friends, but in the end, [it’s] better to say nothing. The glory only lasts one evening.
V: Have you had any mentors?
PT: Mentors no, but I have two people who inspire me a lot. My father taught me to be strong and work despite everything, and then I had a professor, Camillo Botticini. Of course, he won’t remember me, but the lesson I took from him was that you can have any idea and any idea is a good one if it’s one you can work on it a lot and give it sense. He opened my mind and the lesson I learnt from him is that there is no right way to do one thing, but when you do something you must work on it a lot to give it sense.
V: And finally, you live in our shared hometown of Milan, what is it that keeps you here and keeps you inspired?
PT: My friends and my relationships with people that I know. We have our favourite places that are not posh places – they are usually very old with great traditions. I’m inspired by the people and what the people of Milan tell me; their stories, what happens in their daily lives, their relationships. Then I love walking in the street on my own, Milan is a super small city, and at night I walk from where I live in Porta Venezia to Navigli – it’s easy, just two hours. Walking in the street alone in the night helps my brain to clarify ideas and to get inspiration. It's something that allows me to take something out of my head and be quiet.