5008 quotes by artists for you to enjoy

Artists such as Lorna Simpson, Zoe Leonard, Byron Kim and Stephen Andrews and I are around the same age, and I know them personally. The discussions I have had with them over the years have influenced the work that I have made throughout my career. Glenn Ligon

Work Age Made Kim Throughout Had Simpson Over Know Around Years Discussions Same Same Age Artists Influenced Them Personally Career

I like having a studio to go to. It's like having a job. Glenn Ligon

Job Having Studio Like Go

My mother used to say that when I told her that I wanted to be an artist, her famous line was, 'The only artists I've ever heard of are dead.' It just wasn't in her experience... I don't think she had a sense that one could be an artist, because there wasn't anyone in my family who had done that. Glenn Ligon

Family Experience Mother Sense Think Say Only Could Had Dead She Because Line Heard Artist Done Just Artists Famous Wanted Anyone Used Who Ever Her

'A Small Band' was commissioned for the facade of the Central Pavilion at the Fifty-Sixth Venice Biennale in 2013. Glenn Ligon

Band Facade Small Venice Commissioned Central

I met Obama once, backstage at the Apollo in Harlem. Glenn Ligon

Met Once Backstage Obama Apollo Harlem

So much of my work has been about disappearing. Glenn Ligon

Work Has-Been About Disappearing Been Much

One of the interesting things about quoting in an artwork is that there is a repeated confusion about who is speaking - one essentially becomes the author of a quote one uses. Glenn Ligon

Confusion About Becomes Repeated Author Essentially Artwork Quote Quoting Interesting Interesting Things Speaking Who Uses Things

Throughout African-American literature, the writer has, in a sense, been burdened by the necessity of pleading the case for the whole race. For example, writers of slave narratives tend to lose their individual voices, as they were expected to stand in for all other voices, which were absent. Glenn Ligon

Example Lose Sense Other Pleading Case Absent Tend Voices Individual Throughout Writer Writers For Example Narratives Were Been Expected Burdened African-American Literature Which Race Stand Whole Necessity Slave

The public schools in our neighborhood were so bad that the teachers in the school said you shouldn't send your kids here. My mother called around and found a school that was willing to give both me and my brother scholarship money. It's a classic story about black parents wanting more for their kids than they had for themselves. Glenn Ligon

Me You Money School Mother Black Parents Public Schools Our Neighborhood Kids Willing Bad Brother Classic About Give More Both Had Scholarship Schools Around Said Were Than Send Wanting Story Public Themselves Your Teachers Found Here

Language controls how you are perceived by others, and in that sense, it is a prison. Glenn Ligon

You Language Prison Sense Others Perceived How Controls

The free sharing and teaching of open source is incompatible with the notion of the solitary genius. Golan Levin

Genius Free Solitary Open Sharing Open Source Source Notion Teaching Incompatible

I'm an artist and an engineer, which is, increasingly, a more common kind of hybrid. But I still fall into this weird crack where people don't seem to understand me. Golan Levin

Me People Engineer Fall Increasingly Kind Seem Hybrid More Weird Understand Still Crack Artist Common Where Which

I hope that there's a difference between being childish and childlike and that I'm the latter, if you take my meaning. I often sort of wonder. I don't think I'm a terribly good grown-up; I don't take responsibility easily or well in many areas of life. Finance and stuff like that, I'm absolutely appalling. Graeme Base

Life Finance Hope Good You Responsibility Childish Think Latter Easily Area Absolutely Take Between Stuff Like Well Terribly Sort Wonder Often Difference Being Childlike Meaning Appalling Many Grown-Up

I have pets, but they're the really ordinary sort - yellow Labrador, tabby cat, white rabbit, a few goldfish - that kind of stuff. Nothing very... extravagant or unusual or exotic, but I find, in terms of inspiration, Mother Nature is just it. Graeme Base

Nature Mother Few Nothing White Extravagant Kind Find Inspiration Cat Stuff Terms Sort Unusual Mother Nature Yellow Exotic Very Just Goldfish Ordinary Rabbit Really Pets

I was born in Amersham, England on 6/4/58. My family moved to Australia when I was eight, and I went to Box Hill High School and then Melbourne High School. I liked to draw and write at school, and I liked books by J.R.R. Tolkien, A.A. Milne and Kenneth Grahame. Graeme Base

Family School Books Melbourne Draw High Born High School Write Liked Hill Box Australia Moved Eight Then England Tolkien Kenneth

You know I'm a bit of a dag because I listen to classical music. I recently bought myself an iPod and downloaded every piece of classical music that I had access to onto that. Graeme Base

Music Myself You Every Bit Classical Classical Music Onto Had Bought Know Piece Because Access iPod Listen Downloaded Recently

I was always interested in art at school, and after year twelve, senior year, I spent three years studying graphic design at college. I worked in advertising for two years but didn't like it much, then began doing a bit of illustration work for various publishers. Graeme Base

Work Art School College Three Year Design Illustration Spent Bit Various Studying Like Advertising Always Doing Years Began Senior Senior Year After Interested Then Worked Much Graphic Graphic Design Twelve Publishers Two

I began illustrating children's books because of a growing disillusionment with the sort of work I was doing in the advertising industry. Book publishing offered me the chance to be far more creative. Graeme Base

It was always that detail that drove me. Ever since I was a little kid, I used to get into the nitty gritty... when I was drawing army tanks or monsters, I'd do every nut and rivet, and I'd do every scale on the dragon's back. It was just the way I was built. Graeme Base

Me Army Gritty Every Monsters Back Nut Way Kid Drawing Scale Detail Drove Since Always Built Tanks Get Just Little Little Kid Used Ever Dragon

Quotes by Artists