What is your life philosophy?
I don’t want to take myself too seriously. I find that when people do, it gets boring. I feel like egos get so inflated. In my own art career, I’ve gone from super-popular to not having my phone ring for ten years. Then, all the sudden, I’m fashionable again, and then not. You can’t take it so seriously. I’m just really grateful that I get to do what I do. I’m not saying I’m the humblest guy around, but I try to maintain that. It’s important to keep things light. It’s just paint. Get over it. It’s fun, and it’s great, but I don’t like to think my shit doesn’t stink. Everybody has to do his or her thing. I don’t like when people get all pretentious. I’ve witnessed it. I’m aware of it. But, I do not take it seriously.
How do you see yourself in today’s art world?
In the nineties it was kind of tough because I felt very discarded. People would see me and actually say, “Oh my god! You’re still alive?” [laughs] And they would ask me what I was doing, and I would tell them that I’m still making art. Just because you’re not a success doesn’t mean you’re still not an artist. I just do what I do. It doesn’t matter what’s going on around me.
I like it better when people are paying attention or when it feels like I’m relevant. It’s a lot nicer when people are interested in what you’re doing. It seems I’ve become a spokesperson to talk about the old days. [laughs] I’ve been in Klaus Nomi, Joey Arias, Keith Haring, and Basquiat movies. I was asked to be in this Warhol movie about the different decades recently. I assume I’m for the eighties. I’ve grown so tired of talking about it. [laughs] I know I’m still alive and other people aren’t, but I’m not dwelling in the past.
