--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What does art mean to me? I never really…" description: "\"What does art mean to me? I never really think about the 'meaning' of art. Yet, obviously, that's what I do.\" — Gerard Malanga" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0a/gerard-malanga-35219_art_what-does-art-mean-to-me-i-never-really_1230955.jpg" --- # What does art mean to me? I never really think about the… ![“What does art mean to me? I never really think about the 'meaning' of art. Yet, obviously, that's what I do.” quote by Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0a/gerard-malanga-35219_art_what-does-art-mean-to-me-i-never-really_1230955.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0a/gerard-malanga-35219_art_what-does-art-mean-to-me-i-never-really_1230955.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0a/gerard-malanga-35219_art_what-does-art-mean-to-me-i-never-really_1230955.jpg) > “What does art mean to me? I never really think about the 'meaning' of art. Yet, obviously, that's what I do.” [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on the paradox of creating art without consciously seeking its meaning, yet inevitably interpreting it. **In simple terms:** Art is created instinctively, but we always assign meaning. Key Takeaway Embrace intuition, then reflect on the meaning. Themes art meaning paradox creativity interpretation Mood contemplative introspective Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - artist statements - gallery openings - personal reflection - creative workshops Key Concepts existentialism aesthetic philosophy self-awareness Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance instinct and analysis in your work? - What does meaning mean to you as an artist? A Different Perspective The quote may overlook that some artists deliberately embed meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Meaning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaning/) ## Related quotes > [It's sometimes hard to talk about politics and art. Obviously, I have my core beliefs, but I think art is best when it's troublesome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/it-s-sometimes-hard-to-talk-about-politics-and-art-obviously-i-have/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [You have to have really thick skin. Art is obviously there to be criticized and there to be taken in different ways. Not everyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bel-powley/you-have-to-have-really-thick-skin-art-is-obviously-there-to-be/) [Bel Powley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bel-powley/) > [“A genuine work of art must mean many things; the truer its art, the more things it will mean. If my drawing, on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/a-genuine-work-of-art-must-mean-many-things-the-truer-its-art-the/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [Before the people at large, and for that matter, the artists themselves, understand what photography really means, as I understand that term, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-stieglitz/before-the-people-at-large-and-for-that-matter-the-artists-themselves/) [Alfred Stieglitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-stieglitz/) > [“Let's always try to paint the truth ... our art must be made to mean something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/let-s-always-try-to-paint-the-truth-our-art-must-be-made-to-mean/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [“I like art, and by art I mean music, poetry, sex, paintings, the human body, literature… All of this is art to me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-reveur/i-like-art-and-by-art-i-mean-music-poetry-sex-paintings-the-human/) Hunter Reveur > [Nowadays, an artist is someone who makes art mean the things he does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/nowadays-an-artist-is-someone-who-makes-art-mean-the-things-he-does/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [We're all busy. It's a very fast-paced world. And art - and by that, I mean culture in a wider sense - is one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-leonard/we-re-all-busy-it-s-a-very-fast-paced-world-and-art-and-by-that-i/) [Zoe Leonard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-leonard/) > [Art and poetry cannot do without one another. Yet the two words are far from being synonymous. By Art I mean the creative or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-maritain/art-and-poetry-cannot-do-without-one-another-yet-the-two-words-are/) [Jacques Maritain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-maritain/) > [“One of the things I tell the writers with whom I work is, man, when you finish a draft of a poem, or short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-dubus-iii/one-of-the-things-i-tell-the-writers-with-whom-i-work-is-man-when-you/) [Andre Dubus III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-dubus-iii/) > [Art can mean a lot of things. At the heart of it, art is doing something you really believe in. Like my wife, she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-toro/art-can-mean-a-lot-of-things-at-the-heart-of-it-art-is-doing/) [Ray Toro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-toro/) > [Making people dance has another function that has nothing to do with art, and I mean that in the most positive way possible. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-murphy/making-people-dance-has-another-function-that-has-nothing-to-do-with/) [James Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-murphy/) > [Human nature is full of riddles and contradictions; its very complexity engenders art-and by art I mean the search for something more than simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/human-nature-is-full-of-riddles-and-contradictions-its-very/) [Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/) > [“What does Art do for us? It gives shape to our emotions, makes them visible, and, in so doing, places a seal of eternity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/what-does-art-do-for-us-it-gives-shape-to-our-emotions-makes-them/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [Art trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lubbock/art-trains-the-mind-through-the-eye-and-the-eye-through-the-mind-as/) [John Lubbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lubbock/) ## More by Gerard Malanga > [The nature of photography has always resisted that temptation of interpretation. I look, and what I see looks back at me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/the-nature-of-photography-has-always-resisted-that-temptation-of/) [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) > [All that I've done in my life thus far, all the poems and all the pictures, are not so much an intermingling of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/all-that-i-ve-done-in-my-life-thus-far-all-the-poems-and-all-the/) [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) > [New York City has changed enormously. My gut impression of it now is that it's like being in a sci-fi novel: 'Blade Runner' syndrome.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/new-york-city-has-changed-enormously-my-gut-impression-of-it-now-is/) [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) > [Whenever I do someone's portrait, I'm trying to locate the photo in the lens while reaching into that person psychologically. There's the magic! I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/whenever-i-do-someone-s-portrait-i-m-trying-to-locate-the-photo-in/) [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) > [As a photographer, I don't really have a view of the world in general. Someone taking pictures for 'National Geographic' might. Each of us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/as-a-photographer-i-don-t-really-have-a-view-of-the-world-in-general/) [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) > [I seem to be always returning to photography in my poetry. I guess you could say that I'm documenting the personal history and relationship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/i-seem-to-be-always-returning-to-photography-in-my-poetry-i-guess-you/) [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) > [When I started writing poetry in my senior term of high school - I was sixteen - I felt in touch with a secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/when-i-started-writing-poetry-in-my-senior-term-of-high-school-i-was/) [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) > [Be happy in what you do. Be respectful of yourself. Do good works for others, and the goodness will come back to you and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/be-happy-in-what-you-do-be-respectful-of-yourself-do-good-works-for/) [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) > [I've always considered myself a poet in everything that I do, whether it's photography or movie-making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/i-ve-always-considered-myself-a-poet-in-everything-that-i-do-whether/) [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) > [I always had the feeling, even when I started, that my photography was meant to be archival in nature. Sort of like wine, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/i-always-had-the-feeling-even-when-i-started-that-my-photography-was/) [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) > [Whether it's a poem I'm working on or a picture I've snapped, it all has to do with the curiosity I feel without thinking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/whether-it-s-a-poem-i-m-working-on-or-a-picture-i-ve-snapped-it-all/) [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) > [If I'm astonished by what I've done, then I know I've been somewhere in the making of it but not during the making of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/if-i-m-astonished-by-what-i-ve-done-then-i-know-i-ve-been-somewhere/) [Gerard Malanga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) [Explore all 13 Gerard Malanga quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What does art mean to me? I never really think about the 'meaning' of art. Yet, obviously, that's what I do.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gerard Malanga" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/what-does-art-mean-to-me-i-never-really-think-about-the-meaning-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/what-does-art-mean-to-me-i-never-really-think-about-the-meaning-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0a/gerard-malanga-35219_art_what-does-art-mean-to-me-i-never-really_1230955.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0a/gerard-malanga-35219_art_what-does-art-mean-to-me-i-never-really_1230955.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0a/gerard-malanga-35219_art_what-does-art-mean-to-me-i-never-really_1230955.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What does art mean to me? I never really think about the 'meaning' of art. Yet, obviously, that's what I do.” — Gerard Malanga", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gerard Malanga", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-malanga/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What does art mean to me?...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/what-does-art-mean-to-me-i-never-really-think-about-the-meaning-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-malanga/what-does-art-mean-to-me-i-never-really-think-about-the-meaning-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```