“Football is one side of me. Art is another. Travel is another. As I mature, I can organize it so that when I'm done with football, whether it be travel, or becoming a doctor, or going off on a farm and raising chickens, which I'd also like to do, or climbing ten of the most difficult peaks in the world, or spending time backpacking in a flannel shirt and big boots, I'll know how to take off into the world.” WorldArtDoneDifficultFootballArt IsShirtsMatureOrganizeSpending Time Author:Dhani Jones
“Art is for the elite because it has a very high price-point of entry. And when one is in that social strata, they look down at illustrators because they just draw things directly for a few hundred dollars and that's seen as being a bit grubby. Galleries allow artists to stay relatively divorced from the financial aspects of their trade. I am lucky because I do fine art, and that is half of my living. And then illustration provides the other half.” ArtArtistLuckyArt IsTradeFinancialDivorcedFine Arts Author:Molly Crabapple
“That's what it's all about - making art is making something live forever. Human beings especially - we can't hold on to them in any way. Painting and art is a way of holding onto things and making things go on through time.” ArtForeverPaintingArt IsHolding OnLive ForeverRough Times Author:Elizabeth Peyton
“I think that's what all art is for - for people to express what it is to be human. That's the purpose of it.” PeopleThinkingArtPurposeArt Is Author:Jarvis Cocker
“The only way to make a criticism of something is to really participate in it. I'm a completely capitalist person. I participate in commodity culture and the fashion world. High art is a money-making vehicle. We're not making art in a vacuum. We're not shopping in the woods. These are all things that we do within the larger system of capitalism. For me to critique it, I'm also participating in it. That's obvious, I feel. In my work, I participate in the things that I critique. I satirize the things that I love and know well and find problematic.” WorldArtCultureFashionArt IsCapitalismCriticismObviousCapitalistVehicleCommodityCritique Author:Chloe Wise
“I think art is beautiful. It's decoration and adornment. But art is also a really important vessel for social change, and social change begins with thought. And so if you can find humor in something and take a moment to rethink it, you can take a step back and look at your values from a different angle. I think that's a really important way of carrying on with life. I think the best art for me is funny and the best comedy for me is art. Some of my favorite artists are comedians. Comedy is art, and art can be comedy, and the intersection is vital - at least for my own work.” ThinkingArtImportantDifferentMomentsBeautifulArtistValuesComedyArt IsMy FavoriteComedianSocial ChangeVesselDecoration Author:Chloe Wise
“When I do a record, it sounds more punk and raw. Or it will sound louder, or it will sound more shocking. Or mind-boggling. I'll be trying to figure it out, but once I've got it figured out I'll be like, I know this; I know where this came from. I think art is most interesting when the intention is not clear.” ThinkingTryingArtInterestingArt IsIntentionPunkMost Interesting Author:Bradford Cox
“When I lived in Pinetop I just wanted to leave - I thought the city was where I belonged. But now that I'm living in the city, I love it for what it is. It's brought me closer to my art and put me in the right place as far as having people around me. It's very inspiring, but I miss our little town. There's something very simple and beautiful about growing up in a small place. That's where my heart is, for real.” PeopleHeartArtRealBeautifulSimpleGrowing UpMissingMy HeartArt IsVery Inspiring Author:Zella Day
“All of my art is suitcase-sized. I always paint in mediums that dry pretty quickly because I've got to throw them in my suitcase and go. And I have so much because of that, because it's what I've always done to pass the time and I like it.” ArtDoneArt IsPaint Author:Alison Mosshart
“I'm very tolerant of other art and other artists. But what I truly appreciate, what I truly admire in contemporary art, is work that takes on more than it can sometimes handle - art that gets in over its head.” ArtSometimesArtistArt IsAppreciateAdmireOver It Author:Philip Taaffe
“Museums have traditionally been places that protect the art object. But in the last 40 years, a new type of museum has emerged - the Kunsthalle or alternative space which only presents temporary, contemporary shows. Yet art is not just about the future - it is about the future and the present, but it also can't forget the past.” ArtPastForgetProtectArt IsTemporaryForget The Past Author:Diego Cortez
“Art is a funny thing. It's a communicative medium. It really is, and it works outside of literature, the movies, stage, it has its own realm. It's like when you say "The Arts," those are all the arts, dance, theater, ballet. So within that set of areas of expression, we have visual art and it is visual and it's about looking at something and seeing it in the light with our eyes, maybe touching it or not touching it, or wanting to touch it, not being able to touch it.” ArtEyeLiteratureArt IsWork OutTouchingBalletVisual Art Author:Michael C. McMillen
“That's what I like about the idea of the aesthetic experience, the idea of both enjoying looking at works of art and how they kind of talk to you, and also the process of making art, getting back to that idea of the aesthetic experience of making art is very important, It's another way of thinking. Instead of just using your brain, you're using your hands to think with. They're different connections, the brain that comes through the fingertips as opposed that comes through the eyes and ears.” ThinkingKindArtImportantDifferentEyeEnjoyBrainArt IsAesthetic Author:Michael C. McMillen
“I love the theatre and I love working in the theatre but I'm a big cinefile and I love the movies. I also do scribble but to limited success! I think I find being in a room on my own quite hard, which I think a lot of actors do because what we do is so inter-active. It's a very supportive profession... despite its reputation for being highly competitive it's actually one of the most collaborative professions you can do in the arts because you're always working in a team.” ThinkingArtTeamArt IsProfessionTheatreReputationSupportive Author:Romola Garai
“Being critical of art is a way of showing art respect. No sports writer would say, "Well the Yankees had a great season this year." No food critic would get a bad meal and say, "Oh, it was so lovely." It always strikes me as odd when people say, "Why do you write negatively about any art?" I think that everybody has mixed feelings about everything - even Goya. I mean, I look at Rembrandt sometimes and I hear a voice in my head go, "It's pretty brown."” PeopleThinkingWritingMeanArtSometimesFeelingsSportsArt IsCriticsLovelyOddMixed Feelings Author:Jerry Saltz
“You can't let other people dictate what your art is supposed to be. That's the opposite of art. You should constantly be challenging yourself to grow and change and create and evolve. I'm into that spirit of experimental and underground music. The constant, the groping, seeking, moving forward, regardless of where it might take you at that moment. It's all part of a larger arc.” PeopleArtMomentsMovingSpiritChallengesArt IsMoving ForwardEvolveChallenge Yourself Author:Mark McGwire
“You don't own art. What does that mean? We are trustees of art. Art is in transit with us. That is why an auction is a wonderful thing. You clap your hands and the objects fly away like doves and find other places where they will be protected, loved. That's what I believe.” BelieveMeanArtI BelieveWonderfulArt IsDoveFly Away Author:Pierre Berge
“During the last 35 years, the artists multiplied, the public grew enormously, the economy exploded, and so-called contemporary art became fashionable. All these parameters changed the art world form its previous aspects and fundamentals - the explosion of museums and institutions, explosion of Biennales and Triennials, explosion of money, explosion of interest, explosion of artists, explosion of countries interested in contemporary exhibitions, explosion of the public. Not to see that is to be more than blind.” WorldArtCountryArtistInterestEconomyChangedArt IsBlindFashionable Author:Daniel Buren
“My overall approach toward art is to remain as open as possible in front of the world, to always be curious, not to be afraid to experiment, and have a sense of self-criticism and a general criticism toward the surrounding. Also, trying to make a difference between serious research and pure gag! And making as few compromises as possible toward doing things that might not be accepted by the majority of society, even if this dominant society is the one which is ruling the art world. To keep this fundamental idea, even if it's a bit trivial: to have the desire to transform the world.” WorldTryingArtDesireSeriousArt IsCriticismAcceptedCompromiseCuriousMaking A DifferenceSense Of Self Author:Daniel Buren
“Pablo Picasso said, "Art is the lie that tells the truth," and it's not a terribly radical statement. It's always been that you can tell truth through fiction. And this idea also comes from nuclear physics.” ArtLyingArt IsPhysicsRadicalTelling The Truth Author:Momus
“One of the challenges to our nation today is overcoming the notion that art is kind of a nice-to-have, when in reality art is a need-to-have.” KindArtRealityTodayChallengesArt IsOvercoming Author:John Maeda
“Design is interesting because it's utopian. Art is often a jaundiced commentary on contemporary life. Design is always about the future; it's always about something great and new that's come out that will make the future brighter. It has this weird 18th - century positivism about it.” ArtInterestingDesignArt IsUtopianPositivism Author:Momus
“I consider that sex is part of life as much as architecture, fashion, art or food. Sex is life, simple. And I refuse to consider that sex should be hidden. When you hide sex, problems start because sex becomes dangerous.” ArtProblemSimpleFashionDangerousArt IsArchitectureSimple Life Author:Olivier Zahm
“We, as band, always positioned ourselves between art and entertainment, which often works against us - Fischerspooner is between business models. Art is about limiting access to the product to create value, and entertainment is about dispersing it. We've put ourselves in a position where, if we reach conceptual perfection, it's career suicide.” ArtValuesArt IsPerfectionSuicide Author:Casey Spooner
“There are always forces at work in a society, certainly in America, which are really forces of censorship -either religious bodies or zealots who are always putting pressure on things, whether it's books or art or film. And all art is fundamentally subversive, because it upsets people's perceptions, their notions about society. Therefore, art is dangerous, but good art is always making us reassess our thoughts and feelings about how we relate to other people. There are always people who fear that and want to suppress that.” PeopleArtBookFeelingsFilmReligiousDangerousPerceptionArt IsUpsetCensorshipGood ArtZealot Author:John Boorman
“I love art. But I love it because it is the expression of a living philosophy. It's the leftovers. Art is what's left over from life.” ArtPhilosophyArt Is Author:Kirsha Kaechele
“Duchamp's urinal was art once he put it in a gallery. In fact, one working definition of art is anything that is in a gallery.” ArtArt Is Author:Matthew Slotover
“Art is about the context in which it is made as much as the object itself; objects take on different meanings in different contexts. If the artist is unaware of the context, it's very unlikely the work will be very good.” ArtDifferentArtistArt IsVery Good Author:Matthew Slotover
“Street art is designed to be seen out of the corner of your eye, on the hoof. Art that's made for galleries is made to be looked at in a more static way for a longer period of time and may not be so striking immediately, but perhaps resonates for a longer period.” ArtEyeArt Is Author:Matthew Slotover
“It is true that there are not many smiling faces in modern art galleries. Happy art is much harder to make. Art and humour are uneasy bedfellows. Artists need strong feelings to motivate them to make things. I am often fuelled by anger.” ArtFeelingsArtistStrongModernHumourArt IsUneasyModern ArtStrong FeelingSmiling Faces Author:Grayson Perry
“I think a lot of people are involved in art because of the fashion of art and the conversation. It gives them a certain sophistication, something to speak about. But art is, if it's conceptual, really about understanding the concept. And if it's beautiful, it's about seeing the beauty. It's gone much further than that now. There's too much commercialism attached to art. If the market cracks one day big-time, you'll frighten so many people away who will never come back. Because they don't really feel for art. People who buy art should want it because they love it, they want to enjoy it.” PeopleThinkingGivingArtBeautifulSpeakEnjoyUnderstandingFashionOne DayArt IsSophisticationCommercialism Author:Laurence Graff
“The definition of public art to me means everything and means nothing because for me, all art is public. Art has to be public by definition and in a way It has to be accessible to any audience not just a work in a museum or an art gallery.” MeanArtAudienceArt Is Author:Emi Fontana
“I think casting is really important. Finding the right sensibility for the right part is an art in itself. If you're off there, you make it harder on yourself as a director. And it's fun to work that out with the actors. I don't think there's any magic to directing actors. It's very instinctual. Working with actors is really one of my favorite creative moments of the whole process, and the most fun, because it's collaborative. I spend a lot of time rehearsing. I'm very rehearsal-oriented, probably because I have some background in theater. I like knowing what will work beforehand.” ThinkingArtImportantMomentsFunCreativeMagicArt IsMy FavoriteSensibility Author:Richard Linklater
“There is a good deal of art that in some traditions of conceptual work are anti-affect, in fact a very large chunk of mainstream art after 1950 took against affect art altogether because they said, "No, we hate affect art because this is how we get manipulated by totalitarianism and therefore artists shouldn't play that game." And a lot of artists agreed to play that game, which I personally believe is to the loss of art.” BelieveArtArtistHateLossArt IsTraditionTotalitarianism Author:Laura Belem
“What I think is dreadful about art is the way it's related to the money afterward. Not when you do it... But after that, it's like 5,000 rich people have access to it. A movie, even though it can be a bad movie or a good movie, it is more democratic. The people who buy my films, the people who buy my installations it's sometimes a foundation or a museum. When it's a foundation, it's related to very, very, very rich people - who are your enemies! Your enemies are feeding you. But you're not meeting them. So it's a very strange thing.” PeopleThinkingArtSometimesFilmEnemyRichStrangeArt IsDemocraticMeetingsRich PeopleGood Movie Author:Chantal Akerman
“I have found that sharing this very intimate part of my life has been really powerful, because it has brought support from people I wasn't expecting. It's cathartic on many different levels. As I get older, I realize it's so much better to connect with people. It makes everything better to connect. Only connect. Why not have my art be about that? I think of it as moving from the third person to the first.” PeopleThinkingArtDifferentMovingRealizingPowerfulSupportArt IsIntimateExpectingReally Powerful Author:Tiffany Shlain
“Mys philosophy toward art is true to my time, true to my dream, and true to myself.” ArtPhilosophyDreamArt Is Author:Michael Chow
“It always seems to people that I'm avoiding saying, 'It's autobiographical,' but I really do believe that human beings make stories and they make themselves. If I told you the same story twelve years ago, I could have emphasized something different. The importance changes, the meaning of things shifts over time. Also, I think all art is autobiographical. Every endeavor is full of impressions of ourselves.” PeopleThinkingBelieveArtDifferentArt IsImportanceImpressionAvoiding Author:Phoebe Gloeckner
“Comics are a "young" art form, and there is much confusion as to how to treat them. Images have more immediate impact than words, and it is not every reader who can be convinced to relax into experiencing the work for what it is - not words and pictures, but a different form, where the narrative is propelled by the blending of image, word and sequence, and where no element can be extricated and have the same meaning by itself. When this art is shown in a gallery, its "thingness" is called to attention, it is no longer experienced as "story," but rather as an artifact of the artist's process.” ArtDifferentAttentionArt IsConfusionRelax Author:Phoebe Gloeckner
“Whatever they are, can Comics be "Art"? Of course they can. The "Art" in a piece is something independent of genre, form, or material. My feeling is that most paintings, most films, most music, most literature and, indeed, most comics fail as "Art." A masterpiece in any genre, form or material is equally "good." It's ridiculous to impose a hierarchy of value on art. The division between high and low art is one that cannot be defended because it has no correlation to aesthetic response.” ArtFeelingsFilmValuesLiteratureFailingPaintingArt IsIndependentResponseRidiculousAestheticMasterpiece Author:Phoebe Gloeckner
“Drawing the kind of comics that I do takes so long that to specifically address something as transitory as a political matter in it would be about as effective as composing a symphony with hopes that it would depose a despot. On top of that, I personally don't think that my version of art is the best way to deal with political issues at all, or, more specifically, the place to make a point. Not that art can't, but it's the rare art that still creates something lasting if its main aim was purely to change a particular unfair social structure.” ThinkingKindLongArtPoliticalArt IsAimUnfair Author:Chris Ware
“I think that all art is socially conscious. There is no alternative. Whatever we produce contains a political and social statement. There's no way to avoid that, unless it is pure decoration. But even pure decoration has also some value because you can read pure decoration as a way to ignore the reality that is around us, saying, "Well, I'm not interested. I just like to paint this wall blue.” ThinkingArtRealityPoliticalValuesWallConsciousArt IsPaintNot InterestedDecoration Author:Alfredo Jaar
“By the late '50s, something was happening in England, and it got to be quite exciting. The music world then started to explode with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. It was an incredible time with this mixture of independence in art, fashion, and the explosion of the pop sensibility. London was certainly at the center of it all for a few years. And as far as art is concerned, I think that sensibility of what was later called Pop art started in England even before America. And so I was lucky to be there.” ThinkingWorldArtFashionLuckyArt IsConcernedExcitingIndependenceIncrediblesSensibilityRolling StonesPop Art Author:Tony Shafrazi
“I was asked in 1969 by Lucy Lippard to define art. I think at the time I said that art was a matter of life and death, meaning just the breathing and living and thinking experience-that's what art is.” ThinkingArtArt IsLife And DeathFine Arts Author:Tony Shafrazi
“One of the great things about collecting contemporary art is that you mix with contemporary people.” PeopleArtArt IsGreat Things Author:Laurence Graff
“Art is like an avalanche being poured down your throat. You know it's going to crack, eventually it's going to go out of fashion. I wish there was much less happening. I wish there were fewer art dealers. I wish there were fewer auctions. I wish there were just two auctions a year.” ArtWishFashionArt IsDealer Author:Laurence Graff
“I didn't know Michael Heizer until I was preparing for my "Earthworks" show in 1968, and somebody called and told me to look at his work. Heizer had already made land art before any of the others and was deeply into it. But he was very young and working out West, so I wasn't aware of his work until he came and showed it to me.” ArtArt IsWork Out Author:Virginia Dwan
“All of the arts are kin - music and sculpture and dance, those are wordless art forms. But poetry is defined by language. Of course, each art is distinct, and has its own character - not just in terms of media, but in terms of what seems to lie at the heart of it.” HeartArtCharacterLyingLanguageTermArt IsPoetry Is Author:Campbell McGrath