Cities really are mental conditions. Beijing is a nightmare. A constant nightmare.

I don't think I was very structured in that society and I don't really believe in personal success, which most Americans believe in.

I don't think China should care if this crazy old guy should have a show here or not. You have so many museums in the West, and so many shows, you need somebody to show the work, otherwise it's empty.

To survive, China had to open up to the West. It could not survive otherwise. This was after many millions have died of hunger in a country that was like North Korea is today. Once we became part of global competition, we had to agree to some rules. It's painful, but we had to. Otherwise there was no way to survive.

I don't belong to a working system. They only select people if you belong to one so you can be controlled.

Even though everybody who looked at me would call me a Chinese artist, that's the 1980s. New York in the '80s was not so interesting. I think it's quite narrow-minded. There wasn't much encouragement or opportunities for any artist - not just Chinese artists.

I never had secure, belonging feelings with this society [in China].