I started billboard painting in Minneapolis, and I went to General Outdoor Advertising, and I said, 'I could do that.' They said, 'Oh yeah... we can always use a good man around here.'

- James Rosenquist

When I got my first loft, I still didn't know what I was going to paint... There were long stretches when I just sat there and thought without interruption.

- James Rosenquist

I stick the collages on the wall and, if I still like them after a month or two, I make a painting.

- James Rosenquist

I painted billboards above every candy store in Brooklyn.

- James Rosenquist

I learned a lot of painting tricks painting outside.

- James Rosenquist

I hate getting old, but I'm sticking with it!

- James Rosenquist

I don't do anecdotes. I accumulate experiences.

- James Rosenquist

I can handle ups and downs.

- James Rosenquist

Believe it or not, there were very few books on art, years ago.

- James Rosenquist

As a person gets older, time gets more interesting. As a kid, you waste so much of it.

- James Rosenquist

You live till you die, and that's the end of it. What good is your legacy when you are dead? I worry about being alive, selling work, having fun, moving and doing things when I am alive.

- James Rosenquist

Popular culture isn't a freeze-frame; it is images zapping by in rapid-fire succession, which is why collage is such an effective way of representing contemporary life. The blur between images creates a kind of motion in the mind.

- James Rosenquist

When I started out, I wanted to paint the Sistine Chapel. But I didn't have the content.

- James Rosenquist

I'm the one who gave steroids to Pop art.

- James Rosenquist

I feel lucky that I've been able to make a living from painting any idea that comes into my head.

- James Rosenquist

I am not in yesterday; I am not in tomorrow. I am right now.

- James Rosenquist

The best thing about being an artist is the free clothing and getting to kiss pretty girls.

- James Rosenquist

Many young artists, they look at the art world and think they can make a lot of money.

- James Rosenquist

I am getting old, so I really don't like clocks.

- James Rosenquist

I hitchhiked to Miami in 1953, and there were oranges laying on the road, black shantytowns, and marinas with nice boats. The museums were virtually empty.

- James Rosenquist