Hans-Ulrich Obrist Quotes

"At a certain time, an artist needs a big retrospective. At other times, they need a more focused exhibition. It's a different story each time; it's about establishing a dialogue."

"Making art is not the matter of a moment, and nor is making an exhibition; curating follows art."

"I really do think artists are the most important people on the planet, and if what I do is a utility and helps them, then that makes me happy. I want to be helpful."

"I see a curator as a catalyst, generator and motivator - a sparring partner, accompanying the artist while they build a show, and a bridge builder, creating a bridge to the public."

"For me, the idea of curating can be expanded. Curating science, curating art, music and theater and performance and not only bring those things into art but bring art into those areas."

"Exhibitions usually are not collected; they disperse after they take place."

"I'm very interested in the idea of unusual museums, ones that are not necessarily contemporary art museums - more like historical collections or house museums."

"Exhibitions are kind of ephemeral moments, sometimes magic moments, and when they're gone, they're gone."

"To be honest, I think, for me, the power is always with art. The art world clearly couldn't happen without art."

"Everything I do is somehow connected to velocity."

"For me, the making of exhibitions has always had to do with dialogue: a concentrated, in-depth, focused dialogue with artists, who keep teaching me that exhibitions should always invent new rules for the game."

"My job is art curator, not artist. All I have ever wanted to do is immerse myself in art, to enjoy it, to learn about it, to write about it, to talk to others about it."

"I still remember my first Giacometti exhibition, and going back to the museum every day, whenever I could, to look again and again at these long, thin stick figures, so beautiful, so graceful. That, I think, was the moment I became really obsessed by art."

"I have many intense friendships with artists. I don't mean we have intense one-day conversations but ongoing conversations that last in some cases for years."

"I don't wake up in the morning and think about Franz Kline."

"I would go from one city to the next, inspired by the monks in the Middle Ages, who would carry knowledge from one monastery to the next monastery."

"There is nothing deeper than to work for a year with the same artist."

"I started going to exhibitions in Switzerland when I was 10 or 11. As a schoolboy, I would go every afternoon to see the long, thin figures of Giacometti."

"Many artists have not been able to realise their fondest projects. My role is to help them."

"I'm trying to expand the notion of curating. Exhibitions need not only take place in galleries, need not only involve displaying objects. Art can appear where we expect it least."

"One of my favourite exhibitions is called 'Do It,' which I co-curated with the artists Christian Boltanski and Bertrand Lavier 21 years ago."

"Switzerland felt incredibly narrow, growing up. It was good, in a way. There were so many museums. But it was always a no-brainer that I would have to leave, and I'm grateful for that."

"I went to the studio of Fischli Weiss, and it was magical. I thought: 'This is what I want to do with my life; I want to work with artists and be useful to them.' I was magnetically attracted."

"I always have coffee and porridge for breakfast."

"From 1991 to 2000, I was totally nomadic. I was travelling 300 days a year and building out my research. These were a bit like my learning and migrating years, so to say."

"Mr. Koons's work has always inspired architects, which I think is very interesting. I think he is an artist who has reinvented himself so many times and reinvented so many different series."

"I founded a club, which is called the Brutally Early Club. It's basically a breakfast salon for the 21st century where art meets science meets architecture meets literature."

"I think the art fair is very much a form of urbanism. I think something really happens to the cities when such a fair happens. The city becomes an exhibition; it's amazing."

"My most famous show is the 'Kitchen Show.' More famous than any gallery show or museum show I curated."

"I remember going to a monastery library when I was very young and being surrounded by ancient books. I fell in love."