11 Epic Julian Schnabel Quotes Proving That He's Still a Total Badass

In case you needed more proof that Julian Schnabel is a badass.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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On Wednesday night, legendary artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel and Peter Brant sat down for a conversation, hosted by NYU's Department of Art and Art Professions. Schnabel began his talk with a brief presentation of some of his works on current display at The Brant Foundation Art Study Center. Afterwards, he opened the discussion and took questions from the audience, who inquired about Schnabel's perception of today's art world versus the one Schnabel entered during late 1970s. Others asked about the issues and thoughts Schnabel encountered when making his famous plate paintings. Unsurprisingly, these questions prompted some bold commentary from the renowned artist. Here are 11 Epic Julian Schnabel Quotes About His Illustrious Art Career

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"When you make art, people try to stop you from doing it, and everything's sort of designed to stop you from doing it. So the fact that it exists is a wonderful thing."

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"I painted the first plate paintings out of desperation because I was trying to make a painting that I had never seen before."

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"Sometimes you can make a painting, and it may not be pretty. It may be ugly, but it's better than when it's pretty. What do they say? Ugly can be beautiful; pretty, never."

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"I do believe that people don't like it when you do too many things—that's why they love artists who keep making the same kind of art all the time, because they think, 'Okay, we've got our product here. Here's our logo, and they keep doing that, and we know what it is, and we can get one of those, and we can get ten of those.' They don't like it when somebody is a chameleon or when they [artists] change."

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