The word is an extremely dangerous element to use. Yes, several artists have used words in their work. Rauschenberg and Johns used words, Picasso used words, Stuart Davis is full of words. But those were used almost offhandedly. My work, like my ‘LOVE,’ is absolutely otherwise. My paintings impart a “message.”
— Robert Indiana
Jeff Goldberg, "Love," Unmuzzled Ox 14 4, no. 2 (1976), p. 22.