Quotes About Identity

I've always had a certain fascination. It's basically paint what you know, and this is what I grew up with.

I paint as if I were Rothschild.

I paint as a way of looking for myself in the world.

I generally only paint people I know, I'm not a flatterer really.

I'm an artist. And usually when I tell people I'm an artist, they just look at me and say, 'Do you paint?' or 'What kind of medium do you work in?'

When I paint a picture of a house, that goes back to my roots.

I am not metrosexual. I am not macho. I am normal. I don't even wear nail paint.

For some people, makeup is their war paint; that's putting their best foot forward. Others feel better with no makeup. It's so personal - who are we to judge?

I arrived in the U.S. for graduate study in literature in the fall of 1986. I was twenty-three. After a year, I began to paint, even though I had come to the U.S. intending to become a writer.

It's dangerous that we can all paint a completely false picture of ourselves.

With my face paint on, I don't look like a regular black dude.

Having a child doesn't make a woman a mother any more than owning a paintbrush makes her Frida Kahlo.

I don't look like the way we've painted directors in our movies and everything since forever. I don't look like an old white guy in a baseball cap. So, yes, there are always moments when people are surprised that I'm the director.

I don't want to be painted any one color and that can happen to you in Hollywood if you make a hit in a particular role.

I am an Indian and a painter, that's all.

There does not exist a painter who knows himself or knows what he is doing.

My parents were both actors; my dad sort of quite early on. My mother acted for a while, and now she's a painter.

I think I'm a much better painter than an actor.

Generally, when I tell people I'm a painter, they ask me if I have a card: 'Yes, we'd like this room in this color.' I still might get cards that say 'Mark Bradford. Painter.'

When people say, 'Who are you?' I'm a sculptor and a painter. That's how I define myself. The acting is fun, and I hope to leave behind a couple things in my life of dramatic integrity and art.

I have always been a fan of Salvador Dali, but Amrita Sher-Gil, who was an Indian-Hungarian painter, is another favourite. She was painting Indian women, and, growing up here, I'd never seen anyone paint Indian women, so that was really incredible to see a painting of someone who looks like you. I think that has a lot of impact on you.

When I arrived at Roma, someone defined me as Giotto, 'The Painter,' but the nickname I prefer is the one I got from Captain Francesco Totti, 'The Little Prince.'

I am not an artist. I am not a painter.

Painting is about the world that we live in. Black men live in the world. My choice is to include them.