What is modern art but the attempt to pinpoint vague, incorporeal, inexpressible sensations? What is modern art, I would add, but the most solemn pile of nonsense that ever appeared on Earth? – Italo Calvino
I went to New York in 1974, to either try to get a record deal, get into the New York Art Student League, or be a dancer. So that was my plan. Some plan. And I had no money. – John Mellencamp
How many different works of art have been inspired by ‘Don Quixote?’ Thousands. Most people enter the novel, for better or worse, through the musical the ‘Man Of La Mancha.’ – Ilan Stavans
My parents started with very little and were the only ones in their families to graduate from college. As parents, they focused on education, but did not stop at academics – they made sure that we knew music, saw art and theatre and traveled – even though it meant budgeting like crazy. – Jennifer Garner
Democracy has always been in crisis: democracy is all about practicing the art of bearable dissatisfaction. In democratic societies, people often complain about their leaders and their institutions. The gap between the ideal democracy and the existing one cannot be bridged. – Ivan Krastev
The Met is not only the finest encyclopedic museum of art in the United States; it is arguably the finest anywhere. – Jerry Saltz
There was very little art in my childhood. I was raised in South Carolina; I wasn’t aware of any art in South Carolina. There was a minor museum in Charleston, which had nothing of interest in it. It showed local artists, paintings of birds. – Jasper Johns
I know that I am an excellent live performer. I know that I have spent my life paying attention to my art form, developing my art form, worrying about my show and what it is I’m bringing to people, making sure that I give them a fine trade. They get a two-hour show, sometimes a three-hour show, for a decent price. – Gallagher
I did this Super-8 film at art school called ‘Tissues,’ this black comedy about a family whose father has been arrested for child molestation. I was absolutely thrilled by every inch of it, and would throw my projector in the back of my car and show it to anybody who would watch it. – Jane Campion
Art is not supposed to change the world, to change practical things, but to change perceptions. Art can change the way we see the world. Art can create an analogy. – JR
The person that was closest to me growing up was my sister, who died at 19. She was an incredibly powerful girl, deeply committed to art and literature. – Jim Harrison
The forties, seventies, and the nineties, when money was scarce, were great periods, when the art world retracted but it was also reborn. – Jerry Saltz
The New York art world readily proves people wrong. Just when folks say that things stink and flibbertigibbet critics wish the worst on us all because we’re not pure enough, good omens appear. – Jerry Saltz
Everyone’s supposed to stay in their lines and be neat. ‘You’re a rapper. You’re supposed to rap, carry a boom box, wear chains, and go to the club – that’s all you do. What are you doing collecting art? What are you talking about? Wait a minute, you’re getting out of the zone.’ People hate when people cross lines. – Jay-Z
Irresponsibility is part of the pleasure of all art; it is the part the schools cannot recognize. – James Joyce
The world is not kind to whistleblowers – a term of art with particular resonance in football, the most hierarchical and repressive of organized sports, a world of ‘systems’ and ‘programs’ and scripted plays, where reading a medical report requires a security clearance, and practice fields are patrolled like Guantanamo Bay. – Jane Leavy
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. – James Turrell
If you have good songs and a real desire to make music, the next thing to do, instead of approach record companies, is to get yourself a really good manager because then it allows you to focus on your profession of being a musician. Then they can focus on the darker art of the record label and the music industry. – James Blunt
I read whenever possible, and I buy books all the time, sometimes online, but mostly from bookshops. I love literature. If you want to understand art, it’s important to understand what is also happening in literature, in music, in science, in architecture. – Hans-Ulrich Obrist
Obviously, Kanye and I are very different in the way we express ourselves publicly. He’s so passionate… about art, about culture, about creativity. And he’s really good at it. And that honesty manifests itself in ways that are not politically correct, not socially acceptable sometimes. – John Legend
