For me, the '80s were like the drawing by Botticelli of the nine rings of hell.

For me, the '80s were like the drawing by Botticelli of the nine rings of hell.

A Scorpio, it's just about peeling back the layers. And I'm always surprised at myself-there's a lot under there.

When I was 18 years old, there was no internet and no gay teen nights. Instead, you went to the clubs and talked to grown men and did grown-up things.

That's how I am and how I've always looked at the world. I understood what the pavilions were before I came to Venice, and I knew that wasn't going to be enough for me. I wanted to extend this conversation into something I call urgency. There is urgency with people in crisis. Some communities - often the black community - just live in this urgency.

Often culture gets stuck in static, traditional narratives. Contemporary ideas give culture elasticity, flexibility, which is always a breath of fresh air. But these ideas shouldn't only be for people who can afford to go to a museum or a symposium in the "better part of town."

I always made stuff but never thought, I'm going to be an artist.