Tesprit Foli Kossi Gerard TETE

Born in 1994 in Lomé, Foli Kossi Gérard TETE, alias Tesprit, is a self-taught artist.

Tesprit invites us into the contrasting universe of the Dzimakplao, the homeless children of Togo and allows us to understand the precariousness and vulnerability, but also the playfulness and optimism that are omnipresent in the daily lives of these children.

The artist works with used slippers, recovered from Lomé dumps, each one containing a unique story, filled with perseverance and courage.

These thick but light layers of soles assembled on the canvas, represent poses and actions taken from the realities of the streets of Lomé and project us into the stories and life paths of the Dzimakplao.

Simply immortalized in their daily life, these faceless characters are like anonymous portraits that present the complex condition of children in this very particular current context that is our era.

Deliberately colorful and luminous, his paintings eventually suggest joy and hope.

Tesprit’s work is an invitation to more compassion, a call for kindness and mutual aid. A hope in mankind.