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| Tullio DeSantis |
Tullio DeSantis (born November 7, 1948) is an American multidisciplinary artist and writer whose work is informed by ancient and contemporary philosophy, science, and the relationship between art and life. The work of Tullio DeSantis is represented exclusively and internationally by Galerie de Bellefeuille. You can learn more about his storied career on Wikipedia and his current projects on his website. His Instagram is @tulliofrancescodesantis.
ARCTIC
Tullio DeSantis
2025
Fluorescent, iridescent, spray paint, acrylic, charcoal and glitter on canvas
48" x 48"
Meg Johnson: Who were some of your early influences in the arts? I’m curious what work spoke to you as a child, teenager, and in your twenties.
Tullio DeSantis: As a precocious reader, I read Dante’s Divine Comedy, illustrated by Gustave Dore, as a child. It was my first multimedia experience and formed the basis for much of my interest in art, text, and philosophy.
Later, in my teens I was a fan of Surrealist art and Outsider art.
High school brought modernism into my life, viz. modern jazz and modern painting, The Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, and The Outer Limits.
Later, as an undergraduate, I was enchanted by Chinese, Japanese, and Indian art. Aubrey Beardsley influenced my early pointillist drawings.
Meg: When I was in high school, I was taught by a college dance professor that dance and theater are a continuum. This sort of perspective as a teenager influenced me as an adult as I went from being a professional modern dancer to a published poet. It felt fluid to me and not like a big shift, but some people acted like it was. I often see people online getting hung up about distinctions between art forms and genres. As an artist whose work is expansive and as a mentor to other artists, how do you help people release that limiting mindset?
Tullio: The creative impulse is manifold. We may or may not choose to focus it into one or several mediums. For me, visual art, writing, and music came naturally, so I would hope this might influence someone who finds themselves in a similar situation. Artists define the scope and scale of their art - period.
Meg: You earned your M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute. Are there any experiences that stand out to you when reflecting on that time in your life?
Tullio: I had stayed in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the Summer of Love, 1967. After earning a multidisciplinary BA from Gettysburg College, I moved back to San Francisco and was fortunate to discover in SFAI, one of the greatest art schools and art faculties in the world. Everything that happened there, including the other artists I met, serves me still as inspiration for the nexus of art and life.Meg: Do you have any behind the scenes habits or rituals when you are working on a piece or when a project is about to be released?
Tullio: Not really. As I accept the unity of art and life, there is an esthetic continuity to my praxis that extends to basically everything I do.
Meg: Are there any pieces/projects/shows you’ve done that were personal favorites of yours? Do you ever reflect on your work that way, or are you mostly focused on current and future work? With your large body of work, it is hard to imagine you taking breaks.
Tullio: Because circumstances change, my work has evolved along with those changes. When I was doing psychedelics, I did psychedelic art. When I was managing my family’s mushroom farm, I did spore-prints and pointillism based on natural forms. I have always owned microscopes, telescopes, high technology, and I have always been interested in philosophy. These influences still inform my vision.
Tullio DeSantis: As a precocious reader, I read Dante’s Divine Comedy, illustrated by Gustave Dore, as a child. It was my first multimedia experience and formed the basis for much of my interest in art, text, and philosophy.
Later, in my teens I was a fan of Surrealist art and Outsider art.
High school brought modernism into my life, viz. modern jazz and modern painting, The Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond, and The Outer Limits.
Later, as an undergraduate, I was enchanted by Chinese, Japanese, and Indian art. Aubrey Beardsley influenced my early pointillist drawings.
Meg: When I was in high school, I was taught by a college dance professor that dance and theater are a continuum. This sort of perspective as a teenager influenced me as an adult as I went from being a professional modern dancer to a published poet. It felt fluid to me and not like a big shift, but some people acted like it was. I often see people online getting hung up about distinctions between art forms and genres. As an artist whose work is expansive and as a mentor to other artists, how do you help people release that limiting mindset?
Tullio: The creative impulse is manifold. We may or may not choose to focus it into one or several mediums. For me, visual art, writing, and music came naturally, so I would hope this might influence someone who finds themselves in a similar situation. Artists define the scope and scale of their art - period.
Meg: You earned your M.F.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute. Are there any experiences that stand out to you when reflecting on that time in your life?
Tullio: I had stayed in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the Summer of Love, 1967. After earning a multidisciplinary BA from Gettysburg College, I moved back to San Francisco and was fortunate to discover in SFAI, one of the greatest art schools and art faculties in the world. Everything that happened there, including the other artists I met, serves me still as inspiration for the nexus of art and life.
Tullio DeSantis, 1972
World headquarters of the Rip Off Press in San Francisco
Photo by Bob Follet
Tullio: Not really. As I accept the unity of art and life, there is an esthetic continuity to my praxis that extends to basically everything I do.
Meg: Are there any pieces/projects/shows you’ve done that were personal favorites of yours? Do you ever reflect on your work that way, or are you mostly focused on current and future work? With your large body of work, it is hard to imagine you taking breaks.
Tullio: Because circumstances change, my work has evolved along with those changes. When I was doing psychedelics, I did psychedelic art. When I was managing my family’s mushroom farm, I did spore-prints and pointillism based on natural forms. I have always owned microscopes, telescopes, high technology, and I have always been interested in philosophy. These influences still inform my vision.
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| A rebirth of wonder, number one Tullio DeSantis 2017-2018 Acrylic, phosphorescent, fluorescent, spray paint, sand, and glitter on canvas 30" x 40" |
Meg: A lot of people in the U.S. are feeling defeated right now with the direction the country is going in. Do you have any advice, especially for people in the arts, about how to keep going?
Tullio: That’s about the media. The entire world, throughout human history, has changed its appearance but remains dominated by a collection of exploitative, manipulative, imperialist oligarchies - it has always been so.
In the early and mid-1960s, I marched with MLK, got arrested – I was intensely involved politically. Since 1968, however, I have focused on the world within. As a result, I’m an apolitical animal.
I would urge people in the arts to do whatever they want in this regard.
Meg: You were friends with and collaborated with Keith Haring. How do you think Keith would be reacting to everything in 2025?
Tullio: Keith was deeply affected by John Lennon – his death moved Keith to dedicate his art to the politics of peace-and-love. Today, Keith would embody the same ideals in his life and work. The politics of his day – peace movement, apartheid, nuclear threats, the scourge of AIDS – appeared in his work. His politics were embedded in his work.
Tullio: Keith was deeply affected by John Lennon – his death moved Keith to dedicate his art to the politics of peace-and-love. Today, Keith would embody the same ideals in his life and work. The politics of his day – peace movement, apartheid, nuclear threats, the scourge of AIDS – appeared in his work. His politics were embedded in his work.
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| Keith Haring, 1982 'No Nukes' Peace March in NYC Photo by Tullio DeSantis |
Meg: You were also friends with and collaborated with Allen Ginsberg. What do you think is the best way to fight current book bans and censorship in a way that honors his legacy?
Tullio: I wouldn’t say Allen ever fought anything. Even though the publication of his epic poem, “Howl” was literally banned in the US, the lawsuit regarding the work was carried on by Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Books. In the meantime, Allen continued reading the poem at venues across the country.
The notion that acting politically involves fighting something is not the point. Artists exercising their artistic freedom as an individual matter create change, without necessarily involving themselves in traditional notions of politics.
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Poem for Tullio DeSantis Allen Ginsberg Poetry reading at Muhlenberg College in PA Courtesy of Tullio DeSantis |
Meg: I love how your Instagram feels like being in a gallery. It gives me so much energy. I love your use of color. Instagram is inundated with pages of people decorating their living spaces using all beige to an extent I find somewhat disturbing. Some people seem eager to almost be clones of each other. Do you think there is more conformity in 2025 than other time periods you have experienced?
Tullio: Not at all. This has been always the case. This country, the world, humanity at large are dominated by our lizard brain. Tribalism and conformity are the norms. Surface appearances may change, but the beast within does not.
Meg: In 2016, not long before I became ill with a life-threatening illness, I saw the exhibition Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia at Walker Art Center. This was my introduction to Timothy Leary and “turn on, tune in, drop out.” Looking back, it sort of feels like a kind of foreshadowing in my life. As a performer turned writer, I was always aware of being on my own path, but there is a way that illness makes you hyper-aware of that and shatters pretense. “Turn on, tune in, and drop out” felt extremely relevant to me in my recovery process. At the same time, everything feels connected. You knew Timothy Leary and you and I met online in 2019 through poetry. It was a poem I had written about illness, among other things. I shared the link for the poetry journal on the now-defunct social media platform Google+ which is where we first connected. I was so excited to meet you online! I hope I am not asking too many questions about the U.S. in 2025, but I’m also curious what you think Timothy Leary would tell us if he was still here.
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| A remnant of Google+ from Meg's Gmail |
Tullio: I met Leary as a result of my correspondence with Richard Alpert (later Baba Ram Dass), when they were at Millbrook. He helped me set up Tim's visit to Gettysburg College, where I was an undergraduate.
Tim was an existential performer, art-as life philosopher – a thoroughly unique human genius. His work involved dropping out of conventional life, thought, and politics. Tim would be turning on, tuning in, and dropping out of whatever physical, cultural, or philosophical framework he inhabits. He would be opening up new realms of experience by simply being himself, just as he did every day of his life.
Meg: Thank you so much, Tullio. As I told you before via email, I have been working on getting less sucked into what feels harmful lately. It's a work in progress for me right now. I'm trying to be less susceptible to the feelings of fear I know the government wants me to have while also remaining politically active. Thinking of the media's manipulation as something to free yourself from during any period is liberating. Your point about oligarchy not being anything new is so true. Thank you again!
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The Center of the World Tullio DeSantis 2022 Digital image |
