What kind of artist are you?
Some people say I’m a contemporary Pop artist, but I don’t think so. Everything I make has hair on it, and every painting has a personal statement about something.
Like, real hair?
No, I draw it. The outline of the painting is hair; it’s very simple, it’s cartoony. A lot of my paintings have something serious to say, so the hair helps to soften this. To make you smile.
When did you first start smoking cigars?
I bought my first box in 1974, the same year I came to New York. I smoke in my loft, and I have a large exhaust fan blowing the air out.
Does your wife mind the smoke?
She doesn’t like it. But I do a lot of things that are pleasant for her, you know? So, I do one thing that’s not.
Interview by Emma Rosenblum