Damien Hirst Quotes

There's traditionally been a large disconnection in contemporary art between the audience and the artist. Generally, audiences are looking towards what they like, and I can tell you, that's the last thing on an artist's mind.

I'm not the average artist.

When Picasso painted in Paris, was he a Spanish or a French painter? It does not matter, he was Picasso, whatever the influences surrounding him. He simply chose Paris because it was the ideal place for him to sell his creation.

Art is something to be proud of. Art is no compromise.

I want to do just, like, regular art. Whatever is made today on canvas goes up against all of art history. It's the most radical thing.

How can people think that artists seek a name? There is no such thing as an artist - only the world, lit or unlit, as the world allows.

In the contemporary world, artists are almost entirely self-referential.

Most artists create foundations where they put their own work. Here I'm not putting my own work. I'm just creating the chambers.

I thought I would be a visual artist when I was growing up, so I'm always up for a bit of experimentation.

My art in my head just needs to come out for me - for my legacy and who I am.

I believe in artists. I'm an advocate for artists.

As an artist, I really feel I need an outlet to exhibit all of my skills.

Art is not a democracy, in fact art is the enemy of democracy

The art world is the biggest joke going. It's a rest home for the overprivileged, the pretentious, and the weak. And modern art is a disgrace - never have so many people used so much stuff and taken so long to say so little.

In England, pop art and fine art stand resolutely back to back.

Moralists have no place in an art gallery.

As an artist, what you do is you put out material constantly. Whether it's films, or TV shows, music... and you know, you hope people respond to it. You always have to know, as well, that not everybody's gonna like it. And that's okay. It's not for everyone. It's just for the crusty nugs.

Everything about art has become problematic; its inner life, its relation to society, even its right to exist.

In my low periods, I wondered what was the point of creating art. For whom? Are we animating God? Are we talking to ourselves? And what was the ultimate goal? To have one's work caged in art's great zoos - the Modern, the Met, the Louvre?

I've met others [people] who simply responded to me, "You're Kehinde Wiley. I know your work. I saw it at the Brooklyn Museum [Brooklyn, NY] And I'd be honored to be in your work."

... a canvas that I have covered is worth more than a blank canvas. My pretensions go no further; that is my right to paint, my reason for painting.

Nothing can touch me now - I'm Jeff Koons and my art can defend me !

Art in the art world, and culture in general, are branches of the media, which produces our political and social thinking climate.

A lot of abstract painters seem to be doing everything all at once now. And so these different styles are jibing and not so jibing, and they're clashing. But they all seem to be working in their own domain. Whereas back in the '60s, man, it was kind of a dull world. It was a vital world. But it was kind of contained and not too recognized by the public. Now art is absolutely recognized by the public.

Art is the expression of imagination, not the reproduction of reality.