Ben Eine Quotes
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I was brought up in south London and I started out in the world of graffiti when I was about 14 because I wanted to be part of that hooded tracksuit gang thing.
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A friend of mine back in 1989 did an illegal rave in Vauxhall. He got Keith Haring to come along and tag the side of the wall. My friend cut it out of the wall and he kept it under his bed for 20 years. Then a few years ago he asks me if I want to buy it... so I spent £12,000 on a Keith Haring.
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You just have to be clever about who you work with. Had I done Gap or H&M, there's no way Louis Vuitton would have wanted to work with me. So you hold out for the big ones.
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Graffiti writers will never stop. They'll just evolve. It's interesting what ideas people come up with and how it all extends forward.
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I'm a luxury brand.
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In certain places around the world, street art is widely accepted and it is part of the urban environment.
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For me, it's mostly about having stuff on the street. You're walking down the street, you do it every day, and suddenly there's something that wasn't there yesterday: something bright and cheerful and different. It might stay there for a year; maybe it will disappear.
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You can't be a punk all your life.
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Anyone can lose their home and find their life is turned upside down.
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My friends were stealing cars and shoplifting. I was never into that but I was cheeky. I enjoyed making people laugh.
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When I first got into graffiti I thought it was going to change the world. But when, 20-years-later, it still hadn't, I got bored of the self-imposed rules.
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The whole world is covered in graffiti. No one cares. It's just part of urban noise.
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I remember finding this book, which showed a New York subway train that had been covered in so much graffiti you couldn't recognise it was a train. I thought, ‘I want to do that… how do you do that?'
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I respect Virgin Atlantic's brave and challenging attitude and the way it goes against the grain, so I jumped at the chance to be part of the first ever Gallery in the Air.
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Whenever I go anywhere in the world to do a show I try to paint something in the street as well.
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I haven't studied art and I haven't studied typography, but I've still gone out and done it.
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Street artists want to add something to the environment. They consider the audience, whereas graffiti writers don't care about anyone except themselves, they do it purely for the kick.
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I'm a bit too old for anarchy. If I was younger I might be more political but I'm married with kids and I've got a mortgage.
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The art that I do is for the people. It is about engaging a new audience who wouldn't necessarily go to art galleries and museums and painting on the street is the best way to do that.
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I'm not a massive artist by any stretch of the imagination. Yes, I've been in papers and magazines, but you never have any idea if anyone actually reads it or pays any attention.
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I got a message from Downing Street that my picture's hanging in the White House. Which is weird.
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I did long-term re-insurance claims. Asbestos, health hazards, pollution. It was very boring. But I've got quite a mathematical brain and it paid well.
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When I can, I enjoy working with local people to involve everyone in the community in changing their environment.
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My philosophy through all my work, be it on canvas or on the street, is about pushing boundaries and not going with the flow because everyone else is doing something a certain way.