Conformity is a mood and an atmosphere, a failure of hope or belief or rebellion. - Ben Shahn

I believe that the image I create must contain within it everything man concerns himself with: his hopes, his fears, his tears. And I find that a great deal of the imagery in use today precludes most of these concerns.

Today's conformity is, more than anything else, the retreat from controversiality. Tomorrow's art, if it is to be at all stirring, will no doubt be performed upon today's forbidden territory.

Whoever would know his day or would capture its essential character must maintain such a degree of detachment.