Jean-Michel Basquiat

I don’t know if my work is beautiful. I just know it’s true.

I like to paint on mirrors because they reflect reality, like art should.

I don’t think about happiness when I’m working. I think about truth.

I wanted to be a vampire when I were a kid.

I like to paint on windows because they let light in, like art should.

I am not a black artist, I am an artist.

I start a picture and I finish it. I don't think about art while I work. I try to think about life.

Believe it or not, I can actually draw.

I don't know how to describe my work. It's like asking Miles, 'How does your horn sound?'

SAMO© as an end to mindwash religion, nowhere politics, and bogus philosophy.

I get my background from my mother, who is Puerto Rican, and my father, who is Haitian. So I have this kind of third world background.

Since I was seventeen I thought I might be a star. I'd think about all my heroes, Charlie Parker, Jimi Hendrix... I had a romantic feeling of how people had become famous.

I wanted to be a baseball player, but I couldn't afford the equipment.

The more I paint, the more I like everything.

I am not a graffiti artist.

I wanted to be a cartoonist, but I couldn't draw cartoons.

The black person is the protagonist in most of my paintings.

I wanted to be a cartoonist when I was a kid. I drew all the time.

I don't think I'm a genius. I just work hard.

I'm not trying to be a star. I'm trying to be a legend.