Billy Childish

Notable Quotes



I liked drawing and painting, because the only failure would be to listen to the doubters who wanted me to stop drawing and painting because 'you aren't going to make a living doing that.' I liked looking in art books at the work of painters.

From Billy Childish

People could live very happily without the Turner Prize, but they could not live without real communication and emotion.

From Billy Childish

I've dubbed myself as an amateur, not because I work in different field, but because I do what I do for love.

From Billy Childish

I think that the mythology of Van Gogh's life, and the beauty of his paintings, is unstoppable.

From Billy Childish

I've not been an admirer of contemporary music since punk rock went off the boil in 1977, but once a year I'll listen to 'Spiral Scratch' by the Buzzcocks, or 'Hippy Hippy Shake' by the Swinging Blue Jeans. Otherwise, I can put up with Chopin or shakuhachi flute in the background.

From Billy Childish

Being a fan of authentic Dada, I find today's art - what I call 'Bankers' Dada' - mind-numbingly dull. The most challenging work I've seen of late is by The British Art Resistance. Their document, 'A Call for Heroes in an Age of Cowards', is apt in these days of witless chancers.

From Billy Childish

I'm going to get a pair of wire-snips, and I've also started a new campaign to have blank CDs on jukeboxes so you can play the silence.

From Billy Childish

Failure is fantastic, because you meet yourself and get to know your limitations. This is how I express myself, and I can't do it any other way.

From Billy Childish

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