Im interested in what would normally be considered the worst aspects of commercial art. I think its the tension between what seems to be so rigid and cliched and the fact that art really cant be this way.
Interpretation
Roy Lichtenstein reflects on the tension in commercial art between its rigid nature and the freedom of artistic expression.
In this quote, Roy Lichtenstein discusses the paradox found in commercial art, where typical conventions and clichéd forms create a seemingly rigid framework. However, he emphasizes that true art transcends these constraints, highlighting the inherent conflicts that arise when artistic expression is subjected to the limitations of commercial expectations.
In practice
In a discussion on the evolution of art at a gallery opening.
I don't know why you'd want to say your work comes from nature, because art is related to perception, not nature. All abstract artists try to tell you that what they do comes from nature, and I'm always trying to tell you that what I do is completely abstract. We're both saying something we want to be true.
Making something good and saying something brilliant are not two things. When you make your own statement, there is a higher energy level, and you do better painting.
The best thing commercially, which is the worst artistically, by and large, is the most successful.
I started out in this business in rock and roll bands and stumbled into drag. Drag just happened to be my vehicle for my creativity. So, you know, it's afforded me the opportunity to create new shows, to make music.
I think to be a writer, you have to enjoy being alone. I was a loner as a teenager and was always drawn to characters in books and films who were at the fringes.
A story is not like a road to follow... it's more like a house. You go inside and stay there for a while, wandering back and forth and settling where you like and discovering how the room and corridors relate to each other, how the world outside it altered by being viewed from these windows.
My writing is jagged and harsh, I want it to remain that way; I don't want it smoothed out.
No one will ever know what 'In Cold Blood' took out of me. It scraped me right down to the marrow of my bones. It nearly killed me. I think, in a way, it did kill me.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.