You have no idea where reality is, so to have an idea of what people think is pretty hard.
ROY LICHTENSTEINYou have no idea where reality is, so to have an idea of what people think is pretty hard.
ROY LICHTENSTEINI think its the tension between what seems to be so rigid and cliched and the fact that art really cant be this way.
ROY LICHTENSTEINBut usually I begin things through a drawing, so a lot of things are worked out in the drawing. But even then, I still allow for and want to make changes.
ROY LICHTENSTEINIm interested in what would normally be considered the worst aspects of commercial art.
ROY LICHTENSTEINAs long as the marks are related to one another, there is unity. Unity in the work itself depends on unity of the artist’s vision.
ROY LICHTENSTEINIm not really sure what social message my art carries, if any.
ROY LICHTENSTEINThe things that I have apparently parodied I actually admire.
ROY LICHTENSTEINMy direction is very anti-contemplative. If you thought I was for commercial products, you’d think there was no irony. The irony isn’t meant to be an ironic comment on our society, exactly.
ROY LICHTENSTEINThe big tradition, I think, is unity. And I have that in mind; and with that, you know, you could break all the traditions- all the other so-called rules, because they are stylistic.. and most are not true.
ROY LICHTENSTEINPainting stems from a sense of organisation, the sensed positions of contrasts. Not that it is about this.
ROY LICHTENSTEINYou know, as you compose music, you’re just off in your own world.
ROY LICHTENSTEINThere are certain things that are usable, forceful, and vital about commercial art. We’re using those things – but we’re not really advocating stupidity, international teenagerism, and terrorism.
ROY LICHTENSTEINMy work isn’t about form. It’s about seeing. I’m excited about seeing things, and I’m interested in the way I think other people see things.
ROY LICHTENSTEINThere is a relationship between cartooning and people like Mir? and Picasso which may not be understood by the cartoonist, but it definitely is related even in the early Disney.
ROY LICHTENSTEINA number of artists have done things with Mickey Mouse – including Claes Oldenburg and Andy Warhol. He’s such an American symbol, and such an anti-art symbol.
ROY LICHTENSTEINWhen I met Steve Kaufman, I thought he was Gene Simmons, but what an artist talent he is. He will be an art force in the art world to deal with.
ROY LICHTENSTEIN