Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,161,747 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Art
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“I always try to get the inside. Where clay broke too easily, stone gave too little, and metal lacked warmth, wood offered the artist not only an ideal medium but the suggestion of form.”
Lucas Sithole (1931–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you’re an assemblage artist, you don’t throw away anything.”
Betye Saar (1926–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I used to wonder: Why is it so hard to be an artist? [But] all the rest of the working people were jealous, because we could really do what we wanted to do. We could use our imaginations to do all sorts of things.”
Betye Saar (1926–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I had to explain what I do to someone, to myself if I was not an artist, I would say that I make kind of dreamscapes.”
Moshekwa Langa (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are easier, clearer and more precise forms of communication and being an artist is not one of them in my view. It is a contested free space”
Moshekwa Langa (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As an artist I want my work to be poetic, to reflect on things I find interesting, things that have informed my progressions and regressions, a kind of a capsule of the times I live in”
Moshekwa Langa (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As an artist, I love discovering something during the process”
Joël Andrianomearisoa (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’m not a multidisciplinary artist – I’m just very curious about everything”
Joël Andrianomearisoa (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you decide to be an artist, there isn’t always a message behind it”
Joël Andrianomearisoa (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You never decide to become an artist”
Joël Andrianomearisoa (born 1977) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In Studio with Joel Andrianomearisoa 9 June 2017
“The first requirement for an artist is that he must be able to love and be prepared to suffer.”
Jean Welz (1900–1975) said by 1975 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a performance artist I try to increase the sensibility of my audience or rather I try to influence their consciousness. I try to push the boundaries to make them start to feel certain things.”
Jelili Atiku (born 1968) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The difference between an artisan and an artist is that one repeats a technique or idea, while the other creates something new.”
Rachid Koraïchi (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I must stress, however, that I am not a calligrapher as such I am an artist who uses writing in his work.”
Rachid Koraïchi (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“From where do you draw your inspiration as a visual artist? Life. I live and work in the urban settings. Everything you see in the urban sprawl speaks to me.”
“As a cosmopolitan artist, I am inspired by contemporary events and attitudes as reported in both the print and electronic media.”
“As an artist, I made my stamp by telling my TRUTH!”
Oluwole Omofemi wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The first reason for my leaving South Africa was probably when I understood that I would not be able to become either a citizen or an artist in the land of my fathers”
Ernest Mancoba (1904–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some of the investments I’ve made in the music space have been through that mentality of seeing an artist or project as a fast-growing vehicle.”
Ajebutter22 (born 1991) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with TechCrunch, 13 July 2022
“I feel obligated as an artist to follow the footsteps of those who went before us”
Shadreck Chikoti (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have to fight on so many levels. I was a single parent, I was an artist, I was a woman – there were so many fights I had to deal with”
Dindga McCannon (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“for myself, as an artist, I just want a bigger playing field”
Dindga McCannon (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I wasn’t identifying as a feminist artist because in those days, to be a feminist meant that you were a white woman who more than likely had a husband you were bitching about because of the fact that you could not paint”
Dindga McCannon (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An artist’s country of origin is not the only force at play; artistic expression is shaped by a complex set of factors”
Amina Agueznay (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There were times when I felt like things weren’t moving the way they should be, but as an artist you are constantly shifting.”
Sabelo Mlangeni (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I started photographing in 1997, but I would’ve never thought photographs would take me to the places I’ve been, I’ve had to step out of my comfort zone to create particular work. There were times when I felt like things weren’t moving the way they should be, but as an artist you are constantly shifting.”
Sabelo Mlangeni (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think that is where the challenge for the Tanzanian artist is, i.e. their agency vs their context.”
Rehema Chachage (born 1987) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I just have to represent being an artist.”
Sampa the Great (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This album is not made from the context of an African artist in Australia trying to be seen, trying to defend my culture.”
Sampa the Great (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a new-generation artist, I have decided to come up with my own trend to showcase my uniqueness.”
“Another thing is that he did an interview where he was asked which artist he admires, and he mentioned me. Many artists find it hard to appreciate those who are in higher positions, so this influenced me to support him.”
“It is important for an artist to be true to themselves and their voices irrespective of various external factors”
Stacey Gillian Abe (born 1990) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As a creative artist, one of my biggest driving forces is the desire for my work to always develop and advance”
Stacey Gillian Abe (born 1990) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Representation is crucial to me as a black woman and, more specifically, as an artist”
Stacey Gillian Abe (born 1990) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What I want is what every artist desires: for there to be a connection between my work and those who see it”
Abdoulaye Konaté (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“everybody can (now) be an artist. I encouraged that revolution.”
Frances Ademola (born 1928) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Frances Ademola tells the story of how art has evolved in Ghana forty years since setting up her gallery The Loom, November 22, 2009
“I like that being an artist demands you to see something about life and the beauty of God. I believe that makes me very religious and spiritual.”
Cinga Samson (born 1986) first seen 2026 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cinga Samson: Ubuntu, Terror Management and Belonging September 2026
“In my true sense as a visual artist; I think it is about appreciating oneself and being in tune with ones thoughts and abilities, and not being afraid of expressing those thoughts in the best way possible. This is how I approach a piece of wood; imagining how I can turn it into one perfect, beautiful sculpture. An expression of a persons individuality. And in a way, I am giving the viewer me.”
Rose Kirumira (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An artist, in many ways, evolves on another planet, like the tramp who mocks conventions and rebels”
Soly Cisse (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I kill, I assassinate a vision of myself because I don’t plan to wear the image that has been made of me, that image of being an artist”
Pascale Marthine Tayou (born 1966) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I can and I will win Artist of the Year again. God’s time is the best, but I can and I will because I’m not doing all of this for the awards. I love them. When they come, I’ll go and say, ‘I’ll be back,’ and I’ll be back and I’ll be back.”
“We should take out that word ‘national’ and reconstruct that word ‘theatre’. It could become a play house or an artist city.”
Jude Anogwih wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Most people shoot three separate videos for a project, but I wanted to do everything in one day. Like I said, I wanted to do something different. If you follow me as an artist, you know I’m always trying to do things that haven’t been done before.”
“An album is way more pressure. I think the significance of labeling it that is just heavier. So that makes the entire category that I’m in even more special, just because I know what an album means to me and [what] it means to the history of me as an artist. It’s just a lot more significant when you’re putting out an album and you can only do a first album once.”
Coco Jones (born 1998) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I once said that to be an artist is to watch the sun rise and set with the devil next to you.”
Misan Harriman (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To really be an artist, you have to allow what you see to haunt you.”
Misan Harriman (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am an artiste of a different genre, but I am an artist all the same.”
James Iroha Uchechukwu (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The artist statement should embody this in a simple and interesting manner.”
Uche Okpa-Iroha (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I actually just call myself an artist.”
Isaac Emokpae (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To be able to reap rewards from your work as an artist is a very fulfilling thing.”
Isaac Emokpae (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source