Helen Merrill

We’ll buy some drugs and watch a band and jump in a river holding hands.

Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide.

From my point of view, which is that of a storyteller, I see your life as already artful, waiting, just waiting and ready for you to make it art.

I don’t want to put too many boxes on it because the work speaks louder than words.

There is only 1 difference between a madman and me. I am not mad.

One of the things about creativity is you can be in denial about these things. When I found out I had cancer, there were four hours in which I was pounding my head on the marble kitchen top saying, “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it.” But then I felt as if this little army in uniform was flooding me. They had come to help me fight it. I felt really strong about it after that. It was one of the strongest periods of my life.

There’s no collection that has a better representation of post-war American art than David Geffen’s.

Playing with freedom can only come after a certain amount of foundational study.

Make the best of every moment. We’re not evolving. We’re not going anywhere.

Eventually, most people felt MoMA had filled a very important gap.

They decided to establish a museum of modern art where works by contemporary artists would be shown. Mother was viewed as a very progressive person, and not everybody liked the paintings she bought.

I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.

I wouldn’t give five cents for all the art in the world.

We’re here to bring beauty to the world and make a difference on this planet. That’s what art forms are about.

Surrealism had a great effect on me because then I realised that the imagery in my mind wasn’t insanity. Surrealism to me is reality.