American - Artist | 1961 -
When I was thirteen, I was in a supermarket with my mother, and for no reason at all, I picked up a science-fiction book at the checkout stand and started reading it. I couldn't believe I was doing that, actually reading a book. And, man, it opened up a whole new thing. Reading became the sparkplug of my imagination.
Mark Bradford
MotherImaginationManBookReading
Everything I do has an underlying political question.
PoliticalQuestionEverything
I just follow the things I'm interested in. That's always guided me. If I'm interested in something, that's where I go.
MeGoFollowAlwaysWhereSomething
The freeways create economic and racial borders in Los Angeles. South of Interstate 10 is one group of people, west of the 10 another, and south of the 405 North yet another.
PeopleCreateLos AngelesGroupWest
I don't believe in blanket statements on race.
BelieveRaceBlanketStatements
At the end of the day, I'm an artist. I may make work and decide to do something political, but it will come out of an artist's position. It won't come out of society telling me I have to. If I do, it's because I choose, as an artist, to do it.
WorkDayMeSocietyEndPolitical
The police pull up in back of my car and run my plates - they don't see you as you are; they see you through a racialized negative gaze. I think the best thing is not to internalize it too much, or it'll make you crazy because you know it's going to happen again.
CarBestPoliceCrazyNegativeYou
That's how I make work. Along the way, I take notes, I read about history and popular culture. Sometimes I act out things in the studio. I go back to my mother's hair salon so I can hear three voices going all at once. I pull inspiration from everything.
WorkMotherHistoryCultureHairGo
In the city, you're always looking around, observing everything. In some neighborhoods, your life can depend on it. The details change constantly.
LifeChangeCityLookingDetails
About the time I was 7, I got really into black-exploitation films, so I made my own Wonder Woman, but I made her black.
TimeWomanBlackWonderMy OwnOwn
I can go to my own opening, and the security guard will tell me that I have to go to the security entrance.
MeSecurityI CanGoWillMy Own
Generally, when I tell people I'm a painter, they ask me if I have a card: 'Yes, we'd like this room in this color.' I still might get cards that say 'Mark Bradford. Painter.'
PeopleMeColorCardsSayAsk
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