James Rosenquist

“It's amazing how you meet people through other people. I knew a racecar driver, Stefan Johansson, who was very hot. He introduced me to Jean Todt. He introduced me to a French doctor. He introduced me to a French architect who redid the Louvre with I.M. Pei. He introduced me to Daniel Boulud.”

“I hitchhiked to Miami in 1953, and there were oranges laying on the road, black shantytowns, and marinas with nice boats. The museums were virtually empty.”

“Scientists say, 'There is no such thing as time; gravity is a dust from another universe, and outside our own universe are many, many universes in all directions.' They speculate that attached to these universes are probably 6,000 planets identical to Earth. So are there things living out there? Animals, people, anything?”

“As a person gets older, time gets more interesting. As a kid, you waste so much of it.”

“The automobile crash was... devastating in ways that I still cannot really bear to think about... It took me many years to recover. In some ways, I never have.”

“I hate getting old, but I'm sticking with it!”

“If a person is insane or troubled, you first have to get the person to admit that they have a problem before you can solve anything.”

“Many young artists, they look at the art world and think they can make a lot of money.”

“I am not in yesterday; I am not in tomorrow. I am right now.”

“Warhol was questioning the capitalist society.”

“I painted billboards above every candy store in Brooklyn.”

“We may seem insignificantly small, but we exist. So I remain optimistic.”

“I'm the one who gave steroids to Pop art.”

“Nothing weighs on me. I don't feel any weight.”

“People can remember their childhood, but events from four or five years ago are in a never-never land.”

“Believe it or not, there were very few books on art, years ago.”

“The best thing about being an artist is the free clothing and getting to kiss pretty girls.”

“I think of my actions every day: what seems to be important and what isn't.”

“I don't do anecdotes. I accumulate experiences.”

“I used to know Madison Avenue advertisers. I didn't like 'em. Bunch of jerks.”