"The artist occupies a unique position vis-à-vis the society in which he lives. However dependent upon it he may be for his livelihood, he is still somewhat removed from its immediate struggles for social status or for economic supremacy. He has no really vested interest in the status quo. The only vested interest-or one might say, professional concern-which he does have in the present way of things rests in his ability to observe them, to assimilate the multifarious details of reality, to form some intelligent opinion about the society or at least an opinion consistent with his temperament. That being the case, he must maintain an attitude at once detached and deeply involved."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Ben Shahn "On Nonconformity" (1956/7)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Artist
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Artist
64 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Artist →
Related Quotes
"That's what we do as artists: we collect, we connect, we serve as scribes for the collective culture, and as messenge…"
"All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us all that we are more alike than we are…"
"One writes out of one thing only — one's own experience. Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this …"
"Only if we face these open wounds in ourselves can we understand them in other people. An artist is a sort of emotion…"
"Being an artist is about creative freedom. I want to save the world and that's why social commentary is always presen…"
"“He is difficult to work with, like every real artist, but certainly fond of money—” “Like every real artist. I belie…"
"A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All …"
"Artists shouldn't be made famous."
"An artist is a man of action, whether he creates a personality, invents an expedient, or finds the issue of a complic…"
"In a way, artists are messengers between worlds, bringing ideas and symbols from one to the other."