Graffiti Artist Quotes

• I want to make the world a better place, for women, mainly.

  Clare Balding

  Extraordinary Person, Graffiti, World

  "Clare Balding: 'I want to make the world better, for women mainly'". Interview with Kira Cochrane, www.theguardian.com. January 11, 2013.

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• Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.

  Banksy

  Art, Graffiti, Littles

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  Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place.

  Banksy

  Art, People, Graffiti

  Banksy (2005). “Banksy: wall and piece”, Random House UK

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• The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. It's people who follow orders that drop bombs and massacre villages.

  Banksy

  Art, Order, People

  Banksy (2005). “Banksy: wall and piece”, Random House UK

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• 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.

  Banksy

  Smile, Art, Graffiti

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• Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing.

  Banksy

  Graffiti, Tools, Street Art

  "Objectified" by Joe Winkler, www.guernicamag.com. October 22, 2013.

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• The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists.. Modern art is a disaster area. Never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little.

  Banksy

  Art, Hate, Creativity

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  People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish... but that's only if it's done properly.

  Banksy

  People, Ironic, Graffiti

  "Wall and Piece". Book by Banksy, 2005.

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• You're mind is working at its best when you're being paranoid. You explore every avenue and possibility of your situation at high speed with total clarity.

  Banksy

  Art, Creativity, Mind

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• Become good at cheating and you never need to become good at anything else.

  Banksy

  Cheating, Art, Deep Thought

  "Wall and Piece". Book by Banksy, 2005.

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• Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody could draw whatever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall - it's wet.

  Banksy

  Wall, Party, Bus Stops

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• Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent, leave the house before you find something worth staying in for.

  Banksy

  Art, People, House

  Banksy (2005). “Banksy: wall and piece”, Random House UK

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• I mean, they say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.

  Banksy

  Life, Death, Time

  The Sun, 2010.

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• I'd been painting rats for three years before someone said 'that's clever it's an anagram of art' and I had to pretend I'd known that all along.

  Banksy

  Art, Clever, Years

  Banksy (2005). “Banksy: wall and piece”, Random House UK

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• Nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.

  Calvin Coolidge

  Perseverance, Determination, Procrastination

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• A lot of mothers will do anything for their children, except let them be themselves.

  Banksy

  Mother, Children, Parenting

  Banksy (2005). “Banksy: wall and piece”, Random House UK

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• It's a very frustrated feeling you get when the only people with good photos of you work are the police department.

  Banksy

  People, Police, Feelings

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• Art is not like other culture because its success is not made by its audience. The public fill concert halls and cinemas every day, we read novels by the millions, and buy records by the billions. 'We the people' affect the making and quality of most of our culture, but not our art.

  Banksy

  Art, Other Cultures, People

  Banksy (2005). “Banksy: wall and piece”, Random House UK

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  If you want to say something and have people listen then you have to wear a mask. If you want to be honest then you have to live a lie.

  Banksy

  Art, Lying, People

  Martin Bull, Banksy (2011). “Banksy Locations & Tours Volume 2: A Collection of Graffiti Locations and Photographs from Around the U.K.”, p.144, PM Press

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• But there's no way round it-commercial success is a mark of failure for a graffiti artist. We're not supposed to be embraced in that way. When you look at how society rewards so many of the wrong people, it's hard not to view financial reimbursement as a badge of self-serving mediocrity.

  Banksy

  Artist, Self, Views

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• Obviously my own work comes from a conceptual art tradition, but I love the graffiti artists, and I feel spiritually closer to them than to most contemporary art; they make the city a free space of diverse voices and we shouldn't get all cynical about them just because Banksy made some money. I collaborate sometimes with Krae, who is an old school east London graffiti writer.

  Robert Montgomery

  Art, School, East London

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

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• Violence has been a necessary component of every serious liberation struggle...Violence is not the only path to liberation, but likely an indispensable one...the Press Office would like to be clear on this matter: we support all the liberationists ­ from the graffiti artists and ALF liberator to the Animal Rights Militia, Justice Department and Revolutionary Cells.

  Jerry Vlasak

  Struggle, Artist, Animal

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• Bursts of gold on lavender melting into saffron. It's the time of day when the sky looks like it has been spray-painted by a graffiti artist.

  Mia Kirshner

  Sunset, Artist, Sky

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• I started off as a graffiti artist in the South Bronx. My tag name was 'Loco' because I would go crazy and tag anywhere I wanted, in the weirdest places.

  Swizz Beatz

  Crazy, Artist, Names

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• Law breaking, graffiti artist, dumb jock that I am, I'm pretty socially conscious.

  Duff Goldman

  Artist, Law, Dumb

  "Duff Goldman: The Ace of Cakes On A Sugar High" by Regina Varolli, www.huffingtonpost.com. September 15, 2011.

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