Top 30 Ben Eine Quotes

In certain places around the world, street art is widely accepted and it is part of the urban environment.

Banksy’s a very selfish, driven, paranoid artist. For good reasons.

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?’

I have never voted in any election – I usually have more important things to do, especially since I’ve had kids.

I’m a long way from being a Damien Hirst.

I’m a luxury brand.

Whenever I get a job that’s somewhere around America, I fly over my ex-wife and daughter and hang out with them.

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.

I started off tagging stuff – I’m not meant to be having tea and biscuits with the prime minister.

Street art belongs on the street. But I’m a working street artist and I earn my money selling art in the style of street art via galleries.

Street art, unlike graffiti, adds to the environment and is a positive experience for the artist and community.

Whenever I go anywhere in the world to do a show I try to paint something in the street as well.

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.

A lot of my paintings have quite negative meanings, but painted in a bright and cheerful way.

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.

An airplane cabin isn’t the first place people think of when they choose an exhibition space, but I’m all for doing things differently.

I’m always travelling and spend a lot of time in airports so I know what it feels like to get a personal welcome home. I wish I got more of them.

Old typography or letter woodblocks that are hand-carved, cracked, and worn are especially beautiful. I love that aged, handmade effect, and that’s why I don’t muck around much with Photoshop.

Anyone can lose their home and find their life is turned upside down.

I’ve a lot of respect for what people are doing here in Manchester, to promote the city‘s creativity and Aviva Investors Manchester Art Fair has played a big role in that. I’m glad to bring my work to the North West.

All too often, when people think about art in the U.K., they think London. There’s some really great work being produced outside of the capital city and I think it is important to stop and acknowledge that.

I’m hoping that Abu Dhabi’s first piece of street art will inspire the next generation of artists the same way that the discovery of subway art inspired me all those years ago.

I got a message from Downing Street that my picture‘s hanging in the White House. Which is weird.

I don’t want to sell to street art collectors, I want to sell to art collectors.

When I started working at Pictures On Walls, I’d been hanging out with Banksy for a few years travelling around the world together painting stuff, and then we moved into a new office and wanted to do screenprinting.

Painting on the ground was a cool challenge because you can’t just stand back and see what you’re doing.

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.

The Prime Minister gave President Obama one of my artworks and suddenly my name was all over the news.

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.

David Cameron has given one of my paintings to President Obama. It’s quite mad, really. But it’s OK. It’s not the kind of recognition I seek or get every day, but Cameron seems quite a positive kind of guy and Obama’s a dude. I would probably have had issues if it had been for Bush.