Gary Hume Quotes

Powerful Gary Hume for Daily Growth

About Gary Hume

Gary Hume is a renowned British contemporary artist, born in Tynemouth, Northumberland, England on October 14, 1962. His artistic career is marked by his distinctive style that emerged from the Young British Artists (YBAs) movement of the 1990s. Hume's early life was significantly influenced by his mother, a school teacher, and his father, an electrical engineer, who nurtured his creative interests. He studied at Byker Community School in Newcastle upon Tyne before attending Middlesex Polytechnic (now University of the Arts London). In 1986, Hume was involved in a severe car accident that left him with partial paralysis and ended his pursuit of professional football. This life-changing event led him to focus on art full-time. He moved to London where he became associated with the YBAs, including Damien Hirst and Chris Ofili. Hume's work is characterized by his use of industrial materials like acrylic, enamel, and car paint, often applied in vibrant colors on aluminum panels. His most iconic series are the 'Portrait Paintings,' which feature flat, smooth surfaces with minimal detail and bold color contrasts that represent emotional states rather than physical likenesses. Major works include "Virgin Priscilla" (1995), a large-scale painting of a woman in pink that was part of Hume's first major solo show at the Chisenhale Gallery, London. Another notable work is "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (2007), inspired by the film of the same name and featuring a series of monochromatic portraits. Hume has received numerous accolades including the Turner Prize in 1996. His artworks are held in collections worldwide, including Tate Modern, London; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the National Gallery of Australia. Despite his success, Hume remains grounded, regularly returning to his hometown for inspiration and to teach at the Northumbria University.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a key to another world."

Gary Hume's quote emphasizes that art is not just an imitation or reflection of reality, but rather it serves as a gateway or key to another realm. This other world might be the artist's inner world, filled with imagination, emotions, and thoughts. Art is a unique language that transcends ordinary perception, inviting us to explore ideas, feelings, and perspectives beyond our immediate experiences. It encourages viewers to see things in new ways, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and empathy.

"I don't believe in painting as an autobiographical medium."

This quote by Gary Hume indicates that he views art, specifically painting, as a non-autobiographical or non-personal form of expression. Instead of using his own life experiences as the primary source of inspiration for his artwork, Hume suggests that he values the detachment from personal narratives and instead focuses on other aspects such as aesthetics, technique, or conceptual elements when creating art. This perspective emphasizes the artistic process over an individual's biography or emotions in shaping a work of art.

"Painting should always be about something other than itself."

Gary Hume's quote suggests that painting, as an art form, should have a purpose beyond just being visually appealing or showcasing technical skill. It implies that the creation should hold meaning, evoke emotions, or tell a story - essentially, convey something significant to the viewer. In other words, the artistic process and the resulting piece should not be self-indulgent but rather a means of expression that engages and resonates with others on a deeper level.

"The image for me is a trigger, not an end point."

Gary Hume's quote suggests that for him, an image serves as a catalyst or starting point, rather than a final destination. This implies that he views his artwork as a journey, with the initial visual stimulus serving as a launchpad for further exploration, development, and interpretation, as opposed to something static or self-contained. In essence, Hume's approach emphasizes the process of creating art, where each work is an evolving, dynamic entity rather than a mere reproduction of an image.

"Art is not an intellectual exercise; it's an emotional one."

This quote underscores that art should primarily be felt rather than strictly analyzed or understood intellectually. It suggests that art serves as a platform for expressing and experiencing emotions, rather than just a tool to engage the mind. In essence, art's true power lies in its ability to evoke feelings and connect people on an emotional level, enriching our human experience.

Small paintings can be fantastic. But you can't often get a narrative out of a small painting. In any case, museums are huge places, and you want to take up some space.

- Gary Hume

Small, Some, Narrative, Fantastic

The disenfranchised should be going to art school - not the franchised.

- Gary Hume

Art, School, Going, Disenfranchised

My desire to be an artist really came out of being broke and unemployed and incapable of holding a job down. That's what it was driven by for sure.

- Gary Hume

Desire, Broke, Sure, Incapable

If I'm feeling desperate, I'll go out image-hunting. I'll go to news agents and stand at the rack flicking through magazines or go to second-hand bookshops. And then, bit by bit, like concrete poetry, I start to realise that I am drawn to particular things, and then I start wondering why that is.

- Gary Hume

Through, Desperate, Concrete, Wondering

All art becomes history as soon as it is made, so it is inevitably part of a tradition. It doesn't matter a toss if it is in paint or in film; it is all art.

- Gary Hume

Art, Made, Part, Toss

I'd like to give people leaden boots in galleries, so they'd be a bit slower in front of my paintings. And that's because I spend so much time looking at them. I can look at them a long, long time without getting bored. I disappear.

- Gary Hume

Disappear, Bit, Slower, Boots

People constantly describe me as a formalist or even a minimalist, but I'm not really bothered with the rules of painting or the history of painting. My approach is that everything is mine. I take what I can use from wherever, and then I forget where I've taken it from. But there is no point me making anything that looks like anyone else's.

- Gary Hume

Rules, Use, The History Of, Minimalist

I have to go with what the painting says to me. The painting is always informing me. I'm its servant; it's not mine. I'm doing what it wants.

- Gary Hume

Doing, Always, Mine, Informing

I'm probably not going to develop to a final state as an artist. Like, become better and better, more and more refined. Become 'pure.' I don't think that's going to happen to me, because I don't really see that as something I want to explore.

- Gary Hume

Artist, See, Pure, Refined

I lived on nothing for years - squatted where I lived and where I worked, stole electricity, made things from stuff I found in skips, used paper that had been discarded - you do everything you can do to keep going and not have to get a job.

- Gary Hume

Been, Had, Discarded, Stole

I found that gloss paint suited me entirely, and its qualities still intrigue me. It's viscous and fluid and feels like a pool. It's highly reflective, which means there are layers of looking. You look at the picture, and you look at the surface, then you look at the reflection in the surface behind you, then you look at yourself.

- Gary Hume

Behind, Paint, Feels, Gloss

I love to see a wood full of bluebells. Growing up in the Kent countryside, I have special memories of this brief annual spectacle.

- Gary Hume

Love, Brief, Spectacle, Wood

Sometimes I can see the whole painting from the outset in my mind's eye. But more often than not, that idea doesn't last the duration of the painting. Sometimes it comes out easy, just as I had envisaged. But that is reasonably rare.

- Gary Hume

Sometimes, Idea, Outset, Reasonably

One drawing demands to become a painting, so I start to work on that, and then the painting might demand something else. Then the painting might say, 'I want a companion, and the companion should be like this,' so I have to find that, either by drawing it myself or locating the image.

- Gary Hume

Companion, Something Else, Demands

I think Picasso is more feminine than Matisse.

- Gary Hume

Think, Feminine, I Think, Picasso

It's not part of my ambition to become fabulously rich. My plan was always to make my pictures, and hopefully people would buy them, and then I'd buy a studio, buy a house, help friends out, do bits and bobs - but I've no idea after that.

- Gary Hume

Idea, Studio, Part, Hopefully

A painting should be tough; it should have muscle, but I have to find some tenderness in it, too. There has to be that dynamic.

- Gary Hume

Painting, Some, Tenderness, Dynamic

I'm more and more fascinated in my own work. I work from 10 A.M. until about 9 P.M., but it's not an obsession, it's a pleasure. There's never enough time.

- Gary Hume

Work, More, My Own, Enough Time

I like things that are just about to go. Everything's leaving. Death is never far away from me. When you make something, death can't help but be in it.

- Gary Hume

Death, Away, Like, Far Away

I do think you get lonelier and lonelier being an artist as you get older.

- Gary Hume

Think, Artist, Get, Lonelier

My mum always liked poetry, and she had pictures on the wall, so there was this visual stuff around.

- Gary Hume

Always, Had, Mum, Wall

I want to paint something that's gorgeous, something that's perfect. So that it's full of sadness.

- Gary Hume

Want, Perfect, Gorgeous, Paint

I'm probably creative for half an hour a day. The rest of the time, I'm just doing what's necessary to make that creativity visible.

- Gary Hume

Rest, Doing, Half, Visible

I got a job as an assistant film editor, which lasted for a few years, but I found writing incredibly difficult, and I thought, 'How am I going to make a film if I can't write?' I didn't really comprehend that someone else would do that bit.

- Gary Hume

Thought, Comprehend, Bit, Lasted

I don't vote. I voted Labour once, in that moment of euphoria. I know that if people only made a voice for change, then change will happen, but I'm not that person. I'm painting pictures.

- Gary Hume

Voice, Will, Happen, Labour

Now, I love painting. I love looking. I love the fact that they don't move. They constantly change with the light. They are sort of patient.

- Gary Hume

Love, Fact, Move, Patient

The surface is all you get of me.

- Gary Hume

Me, You, Get, Surface

Over the years, my 'Door' paintings have become somewhat mythologized.

- Gary Hume

Door, Over, Somewhat, Paintings

I have to take it as a given that I have got a certain ability to do something. I can be an artist, which is take something and transform it into another thing. I can just see something, and I can see my painting.

- Gary Hume

Artist, Which, Given, Painting

I don't make political work. I don't make work that criticises the state. I make as human work as I can.

- Gary Hume

Work, Political, State, Political Work

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