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Artists of The Living Years: Glenn Ligon
The Living Years: Art after 1989 is a Walker Art Center exhibition opening September 6, 2012. Curators Siri Engberg and Clara Kim offer this description:
The year 1989 signaled a seismic shift in the international geopolitical landscape. This exhibition showcases a range of works from the Walker’s collection from the 1990s to the present, including sculpture, paintings, photography, drawings, multiples, and installations.
This is one of a series of Art Collector Sets focused on artists in the exhibition. Developed by Museum Educators and Tour Guides, these Sets are intended to give you a grounding in the artists' thinking and making processes.
This Set highlights artist Glenn Ligon. Please be aware that only one or two artworks by Ligon will be in The Living Years exhibition; however, more are offered here to illustrate the artist in greater depth.
Feel free to make this Set your own. As a registered user of ArtsConnectEd you can duplicate any published Art Collector Set to your own account. Once a Set is duplicated you can edit the Set and its slides. Click here to learn more about duplicating a published Set.
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Glenn Ligon Speaking to Hilton Als
Ligon opens up about his choice to become an artist and what led him to integrate text into much of his work.
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.33333333333" src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/DH9RPQxPyRA/0.jpg" width="140" height="105" aspect_ratio="1.33333333333" height_offset="0" /></div>
untitled
"I was interested in the idea of invention and self-invention in autobiography as it speaks to counteracting essential notions of black identity. The 'one' that I am is composed of narratives that overlap, run parallel to, and often contradict one another."—Glenn Ligon
Glenn Ligon's work, which has always centered on the power of the printed word (and often on its graphic impact), uses text to question identity. In Untitled, which was originally used as a menu cover, Ligon screenprints words that signify colors ("black," "white," "red") to make us question our assumptions about race.
Artist: Glenn Ligon
Date: 1991
Medium: Prints, Edition Prints/Proofs
Size: sheet 13.75 x 17.75 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:108.060301508px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.29557291667" id="zoomer_19802_42665iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/a9/44/f20a6a7365411d7a18cbf1ec625c/140/120/19802.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="untitled, Glenn Ligon" height_offset="0" /></div>
Rumble Young Man Rumble (Version #2)
To read the text in full, please advance to the next slide. The text comes from the boxer Muhammad Ali.
Artist: Glenn Ligon, Byron Kim
Date: 1993
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: overall installed 36 x 13 x 13 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
<div style="width:140px; height:120px;"><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:0px; margin-top:0px;"><div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:93.24px; height:79.92px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.381510416667" id="zoomer_20057_28599iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/00/58/ee800e8b4aa44d46ded7697b1b67/93.24/79.92/20057.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Rumble Young Man Rumble (Version #2), Glenn Ligon, Byron Kim" height_offset="0" /></div></div><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:46.62px; margin-top:-39.96px;"><div class="zoomed_thumbnail_wrapper" style="width:100% height:79.92px; position:relative;"><div class="zoomed_thumbnail"><img class="inline_img" src="/cgi-bin/iipsrv.fcgi?FIF=/var/www/ace2/zoom/media/00/58/ee800e8b4aa44d46ded7697b1b67/scale.tif&rgn=0.18421052631578946,0.52,0.655290102388506,0.25&WID=121.96125&HEI=319.68&CVT=jpeg" width="79.92" height="79.92"/></div></div></div></div>
Rumble Young Man Rumble (Version #2)
"Everything that the so-called Negro do in America seem to be the best, the greatest. So what's wrong with him saying he is the greatest when everything in America that has been painted and colored white. Like, Jesus is white. Santa Claus is white. Tarzan, King of the Jungle, he's white. miss Universe is white. Miss World is white. When you go to Heaven you walk on a milky white way. Before you go to Heaven you walk on a milky white way. Before you go to Heaven you washed in lamb's blood, he's white as snow, they say. They teach us in T. V. commercials: there's White House Cigars, White Swan Soap, White Cloud Tissue Paper, White Rain Hair Rinse, White Tornado Floor Wax. Everything seems to be white: I'm dreaming of a white Christmas; angel hair is white; angel food cake is white and devil's food cake is dark; and Mary had a little lamb, his fleece was white as snow. So everything the greatest so far has been white and these are just falsehoods of white supremacy. So now that we have a man in America today, Elijah Muhammad, who teaches us that we are the greatest, and it is a fact they cannot prove that we are not the greatest, so I don't see why the need for commotion and the trouble over people are saying that they're the greatest, what's wrong with that? So if you the greatest, you just the greatest until proven wrong."
Artist: Glenn Ligon, Byron Kim
Date: 1993
Medium: Sculpture, Sculptures
Size: overall installed 36 x 13 x 13 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
<div style="width:140px; height:120px;"><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:0px; margin-top:0px;"><div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:93.24px; height:79.92px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.381510416667" id="zoomer_20057_42392iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/00/58/ee800e8b4aa44d46ded7697b1b67/93.24/79.92/20057.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Rumble Young Man Rumble (Version #2), Glenn Ligon, Byron Kim" height_offset="0" /></div></div><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:46.62px; margin-top:-39.96px;"><div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:93.24px; height:79.92px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.33333333333" src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7-5_8af3TiY/0.jpg" width="93.24" height="69.93" aspect_ratio="1.33333333333" height_offset="0" /></div></div></div>
Self-Portrait at Eleven Years Old
This is one work in a series where the artist selected musicians he admired as a child to represent himself at different ages. What musician or pop culture icon would you choose to represent your eleven-year-old self?
Artist: Glenn Ligon
Date: 2004
Medium: Prints, Edition Prints/Proofs
Size: sheet 35.375 x 30 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
<div style="width:140px; height:120px;"><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:0px; margin-top:0px;"><div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:93.24px; height:79.92px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.84375" id="zoomer_21947_2678iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/79/98/865755c379f80e1c537c45bbaed4/93.24/79.92/21947.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Self-Portrait at Eleven Years Old, Glenn Ligon" height_offset="0" /></div></div><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:46.62px; margin-top:-39.96px;"><div class="zoomed_thumbnail_wrapper" style="width:100% height:79.92px; position:relative;"><div class="zoomed_thumbnail"><img class="inline_img" src="/cgi-bin/iipsrv.fcgi?FIF=/var/www/ace2/zoom/media/79/98/865755c379f80e1c537c45bbaed4/scale.tif&rgn=0.40476190476190477,0.32,0.2962962962962963,0.25&WID=269.73&HEI=319.68&CVT=jpeg" width="79.92" height="79.92"/></div></div></div></div>
Untitled (Crowd/The Fire Next Time)
<div style="width:140px; height:120px;"><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:0px; margin-top:0px;"><div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:93.24px; height:65.559375px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.42222222222" id="zoomer_30974_23033iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/04/91/988179050af1da5825211b83a148/93.24/79.92/30974.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Untitled (Crowd/The Fire Next Time), Glenn Ligon" height_offset="0" /></div></div><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:46.62px; margin-top:-39.96px;"><div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:93.24px; height:79.92px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.33333333333" src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2fJVUoJlaYI/0.jpg" width="93.24" height="69.93" aspect_ratio="1.33333333333" height_offset="0" /></div></div></div>
untitled [Black Like Me] from Narratives
A self-portrait based on the format of the slave narrative.
"I don't think the past is shameful, and in fact, our dealing with that past and its legacy is the only way that we can move forward."—Glenn Ligon
Artist: Glenn Ligon
Date: 1993
Medium: Prints, Edition Prints/Proofs
Size: sheet 28 x 21 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.748697916667" id="zoomer_19854_19375iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/8e/22/8ef449bbd6bcb5b4330604dec95c/140/120/19854.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="untitled [Black Like Me] from Narratives, Glenn Ligon" height_offset="0" /></div>
untitled from Runaways
To hear about the
Runaways series in the artist's own voice, listen to this short audio clip from the Whitney Museum of American Art's website:
http://bit.ly/NkJ3dk
The next several images all come from this series. Read the texts*. Talk about them. What characteristics do they share?
*To read the texts, you may need to use the zoom tool by hovering the cursor over the image and clicking the "+" symbol to magnify.
Artist: Glenn Ligon
Date: 1993
Medium: Prints, Edition Prints/Proofs
Size: sheet 16 x 12 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.760416666667" id="zoomer_110629_25426iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/c8/be/63c9f40621248fd5f03012482cf9/140/120/110629.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="untitled from Runaways, Glenn Ligon" height_offset="0" /></div>
untitled from Runaways
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.7578125" id="zoomer_110630_18260iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/6a/ce/cc0c618b4ca6988ae9bda2d167b3/140/120/110630.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="untitled from Runaways, Glenn Ligon" height_offset="0" /></div>
untitled from Runaways
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.7578125" id="zoomer_110634_6897iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/9c/2a/04fc45da28e329e9e14a1bc0ea2f/140/120/110634.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="untitled from Runaways, Glenn Ligon" height_offset="0" /></div>
untitled from Runaways
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.7578125" id="zoomer_110636_41056iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/f4/24/18b4b6796b5d071657174e620db2/140/120/110636.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="untitled from Runaways, Glenn Ligon" height_offset="0" /></div>
untitled from Runaways
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.755208333333" id="zoomer_110637_35644iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/65/ed/777406e09d90d21973dfa7a98af5/140/120/110637.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="untitled from Runaways, Glenn Ligon" height_offset="0" /></div>
untitled from Runaways
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.752604166667" id="zoomer_110638_21398iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/c3/de/db4c831a436bc8145c62c5ccf34b/140/120/110638.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="untitled from Runaways, Glenn Ligon" height_offset="0" /></div>
Untitled (Stranger in the Village #16)
Consider Ligon's painting, which uses text from James Baldwin's
Stranger in the Village (1955). The accompanying video offers insights into Ligon's recent interest in the word "America" and an in-depth description of Ligon's reason for selecting and playing with Baldwin's text. To read Baldwin's text in full, please
click here.
Artist: Glenn Ligon
Date: 2000
Medium: Paintings
Size: overall 48.0625 x 56.125 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
<div style="width:140px; height:120px;"><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:0px; margin-top:0px;"><div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:93.24px; height:79.92px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.14322916667" id="zoomer_20917_7532iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/83/6c/bf7543942f490645b2abc838f4d4/93.24/79.92/20917.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Untitled (Stranger in the Village #16), Glenn Ligon" height_offset="0" /></div></div><div style="position:relative; width:93.24px; height:79.92px; margin-left:46.62px; margin-top:-39.96px;"><div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:93.24px; height:79.92px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.33333333333" src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BiPk-rAZVV8/0.jpg" width="93.24" height="69.93" aspect_ratio="1.33333333333" height_offset="0" /></div></div></div>
Glenn Ligon on Painting
In this short clip from the Art21 series, the artist discusses the benefits and challenges of painting as a medium.
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_1.33333333333" src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aXJXxdnQy9U/0.jpg" width="140" height="105" aspect_ratio="1.33333333333" height_offset="0" /></div>
Malcolm X, Sun, Frederick Douglass, Boy with Bubbles (version 2) #1
This work came out of Glenn Ligon's first solo exhibition at the Walker Art Center in 2000. The artist took pages from 1970s coloring books that tapped into African-American life, culture, and politics, screenprinted the images from the pages onto large canvases, and then created his own marks on the images. To read more, click on this link:
http://bit.ly/NDkWVK.
Artist: Glenn Ligon
Date: 2000
Medium: Paintings
Size: overall 96 x 72 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
<div class="unzoomed_thumbnail" style="width:140px; height:120px;"><img class="inline_img fake_0.748697916667" id="zoomer_52162_62799iip_loading" src="http://www.artsconnected.org/media/a4/6e/edee20bef3057dca97bef5ff7600/140/120/52162.jpg" class="iip_loading" title="" alt="Malcolm X, Sun, Frederick Douglass, Boy with Bubbles (version 2) #1, Glenn Ligon" height_offset="0" /></div>
