Christopher Wool Quotes on Art

Christopher Wool is a famous American abstract painter, printmaker, photographer and sculptor. He is best known for his large black and white text paintings and painterly monochromatic abstract works. Famous Christopher Wool paintings include “Untitled (FOOL)”, “Untitled “RIOT)”, “Apocalypse Now”, “If you can’t take a Joke”, “Untitled (CHAMELEON)”, “Maggie’s Brain”, “Black Book”, “Sell the House, Sell the Car, Sell the Kids”, “Untitled (RUN DOG RUN)”, and many important works are simply “Untitled”.

Mini biography: Born Christopher Wool in 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, United States of America. His mother was Glorye was a psychiatrist and his father Ira Wool was a molecular biologist. Wool married the German abstract painter Charline von Heyl in 1997. The artist lives between New York City, NY and Marfa, Texas, USA.

List of Famous Christopher Wool Art Quotes

I was born with zero talent, so I had to work at it. Christopher Wool

I think of myself primarily as an abstract painter, but I find that in making paintings there is a little bit of investigation into what abstract painting can be. Christopher Wool

I define myself in my work by reducing the things I don’t want–it seems impossible to know when to say ‘yes’, but I do know what I can say ‘no’ to … It’s easier to define things by what they’re not than by what they are. Christopher Wool

How did surrealism fall into such disrepute while we’re force-fed warmed over conceptualism? Christopher Wool

With the painting the inspiration comes from the process of the work itself. Like music is an emotional experience. It’s a visual language and it’s almost impossible to put words to it. Christopher Wool

Having Texas to go to was a great freedom. It allowed me to work quietly which I don’t always get to do. Christopher Wool

Text and image don’t always work together in the way music and song lyrics become part of each other. Christopher Wool

When I discovered the wire, I saw it as a ­three-dimensional version of my drawings, only done better. Christopher Wool

When you leave the studio and think you’ve had a good day, you probably haven’t. Christopher Wool

Scale is pretty straightforward in painting—how it relates to wall or room size, or whether it will fit through the door. But once you take sculpture outside, the scale is so much less relational. It’s much more open and independent. Christopher Wool

I wanted to be a film-maker. But I realized I’m not a collaborative person. Christopher Wool

Critics—who needs them? And you can’t kill them. Christopher Wool

With Jean-Michel or Picasso, the fact that they could do it so easily is what makes the work, in the end, so great. They had absolute fearlessness. If you’re not fearless about changes, then you won’t progress. Christopher Wool

It really is a different place. For me now, New York has become a place for work, and where my friends are—not much else. Christopher Wool

Marcel Duchamp wouldn’t be number one on my list. It’s symptomatic, this obsession with Duchamp has given us 20 years of conceptual sludge. Christopher Wool

Despite all the attention paid to art right now, you could easily argue that it’s dead.. But art’s not dead. Christopher Wool

When I first went to Marfa 15 years ago, it struck me right away that making sculpture was a rich possibility, but I did not have sculptural ideas. Christopher Wool

Christopher Wool Portrait Painting

More on American Abstract Painter Christopher Wool

How has Christopher Wool influenced your art making? Is he one of your favorite famous American abstract painters? Let us know what you think about Christopher Wool in the comments below.

Related or similar popular artists and celebrities include: Cy Twombly, Franz Kline, Larry Gagosian and other Famous American Painters.