Damien Hirst Quotes about Art

The idea is more important than the object.

Art comes from everywhere. It's your response to your surroundings.

I can't understand why most people believe in medicine and don't believe in art, without questioning either.

I have always been aware that you have to get people listening before you can change their minds. Any artist's big fear is being ignored, so if you get debate, that's great.

For me, art is always a kind of theater.

Making art, good art, is always a struggle. It can make you happy when you pull it off. There's no better feeling. It's beauteous. But it's always about hard work and inspiration and sweat and good ideas.

You've really got to get down on the floor with yourself and get low in order to make great art. I think you've just got to accept who you are and do the most unbelievable things.

I believe all painting and art should be uplifting for the viewer.

Painting is so poetic, while sculpture is more logical and scientific and makes you worry about gravity.

It's amazing what you can do with an E in A-Level art, a twisted imagination and a chainsaw.

As an artist, you don't stop making art because people are not buying it.

In an artwork you're always looking for artistic decisions, so an ashtray is perfect. An ashtray has got life and death.

To be an artist is not about fame; it's about art, which is this intangible thing that has got to have lots of integrity, whereas being famous doesn't really take any integrity. But I think you have to admit that you want to be famous, otherwise you can't be an artist. Art and fame together are like a desire to live forever.

I like the confusion you get between science and religion … that’s where belief lies and art as well.

I always feel like the art's there and I just see it, so it's not really a lot of work.

I love art. It is uplifting.

Art is the closest you can get to immortality, though it's a poor substitute - you're working for people not yet born - and people want it because it is brilliant. It ends up in museums anyway; the rich have to give it back to the people, it's their only option. There are no pockets in a shroud.

I don't see what else you can spend your money on... If you want to own things, art is a pretty good bet.

I think art is good at looking back and looking forward. I don't think art is good at looking head-on. At the end of the day, people are more important than paintings.

Buy art, build a museum, put your name on it, let people in for free. That's as close as you can get to immortality.

As soon as something becomes art I think you get over the fear

Art goes on in your head. If you said something interesting, that might be a title for a work of art and I'd write it down.

I can’t wait to get into a position to make really bad art and get away with it.

Because it's visual art, a lot of it comes from childhood experience but then a lot comes from the visual language - in advertising and stuff like that - which is around us.

For artists it's a lot easier to make art in bad times than it is in good times. When you've got no money it's easy to just drink your way through it and make great art. But if you're making lots of money it can be very problematic.