John Leguizamo Quotes

Just as the development of earth art and installation art stemmed from the idea of taking art out of the galleries, the basis of my involvement with public art is a continuation of wall drawings.

I like the idea of the artist going out in the world, creating a dialogue.

I was bringing the whole music, hip-hop, art, break dancing and urban cultural thing to the downtown table.

I have friends in France who are artists. I go to gallery openings and things like that.

After pop art, graffiti is probably the biggest art movement in recent history to have such an impact on culture.

I had to work out that it was something that could move, without having everybody in spray painted leotards.

I like the idea that you can paint something outdoors, and anyone can see it. It's open to anyone, and people have to deal with it. In the gallery, it's the same 150 people on the San Francisco art scene. There's a dynamic on the street that's definitely more interesting.

I'd gone through periods where I didn't work live performances for probably seven or eight months at a time.

I'm a painter. I was a graffiti artist, and I painted all over the world.

Part of what I do and what I want to do is I want to bring art into the everyday life. If you can take ordinary just walking in the street and you're confronted by something, that might change your day - it might inspire you.

But at the beginning it was clear to me that concrete poetry was peculiarly suited for using in public settings. This was my idea, but of course I never really much got the chance to do it.

No matter what part of the business you want to be in, live performances are the most thrilling.

I consider myself a multi-platform artist - not just a street artist - but the audience I found through street art has created many of the opportunities I now have on other platforms.

Live performances always feel like such a moment with all of the costumes and theatrics.

Whenever I go anywhere in the world to do a show I try to paint something in the street as well.

That's what New York is like - you can't have real art happen in an institution because rich people can make the world stop. The stuff on the street is a lot more interesting.

Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don't come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can make someone smile while they're having a piss.

People make art on the sides of buildings, and they'll make art on the sides of trains. They'll make art wherever they decide to make art. The technology that people are working with now will be replaced in 10 years, so that's not where your future is, if you're a musician.

I made my performance debut in New York City downtown on the Lower East Side in college doing awkward performance art as a go-go dancer at Lady Starlight's Party. And I never thought that my love for mediocre performance art and bad mime would ever come to use in my career as an actor. But my fantasies came true and I got to play Maureen in Rent.

When it comes to the street-art world, there are a lot of people who realize if they go out and put up a few pieces of street art and photograph them really well, even if their locations weren't actually that high-profile or dangerous, with the level of exposure they get from the Internet, with a large audience, they can maintain that rebel cache by having it be theoretically documented street art.

I hate the idea of street art. With music, I just needed my brain and my voice, which didn't cost anything.

I've been told my old city possesses a 'thriving arts scene,' whatever that is; personally, I think artists should lie low and stick to their work, not line-dance through the parks.

Me and Mr. Brainwash in Toronto signing his mural at Hard Candy Fitness Opening! #artforfreedom

Bus stops are far more interesting and useful places to have art than in museums.

When I was looking at the Russian Constructivists, these agitprop artists actually painted on trains. It was a heavy influence. They were bringing art to the people, to the masses, and breaking it out of the clubbiness of the art world, which is a monolith.