Theodore Benson is making moves. Besides being an accomplished visual artist, he is currently working on his streetwear label, 140500. If you are lucky, and in Madison, Wisconsin, you can catch him selling his artwork and clothing at his booth on State Street. I met Teddy at an art opening at Freedom Skate Shop. He was talking to a large crowd of spectators gathering around his work. The first thing that struck me in the work he was presenting was his strong sense of line, smooth, and confidently creating the structure of his drawings. I ran into him a few times since and eventually asked if he was interested in doing an interview about his work. That interview is below. Enjoy.
Please introduce yourself. How would you describe yourself as an artist?
Thanks for having me. I am from the tristate area and produce art in different formats – screen printed shirts, paintings, drawings, interactive sculptures, among other things. I’m in the MFA program at UW, and worked for professional printmaking studios in Colorado and Connecticut before coming to Madison.