Jazz musicians like John Coltrane needed these very clear titles for their abstract music, and your decision to bring voices into your music as a way to tap into content. It's related to the way my text-based work still functions as abstraction for me. If I repeat a sentence down a canvas, the text starts to smudge and disappear. It essentially becomes an abstract piece. The meaning of the text is still there.
Like any artwork, things become richer if you know more about them; but I don't think that's crucial. - Glenn Ligon
Like any artwork, things become richer if you know more about them; but I don't think that's crucial.
- Glenn Ligon
One can take a neon tube and simply paint it black on the front. So it would read as a black letter or a line, but it would also read as neon because… - Glenn Ligon
One can take a neon tube and simply paint it black on the front. So it would read as a black letter or a line, but it would also read as neon because…
My job is not to produce answers. My job is to produce good questions. - Glenn Ligon
My job is not to produce answers. My job is to produce good questions.
There's a kind of slowness and inefficiency about rendering text in paint. We're in a world that's very fast, so things that slow you for a minute-gi… - Glenn Ligon
There's a kind of slowness and inefficiency about rendering text in paint. We're in a world that's very fast, so things that slow you for a minute-gi…
I think there's an interest right now in the performance aspect of artworks, instead of just hanging things on walls. We're in a moment when a lot of… - Glenn Ligon
I think there's an interest right now in the performance aspect of artworks, instead of just hanging things on walls. We're in a moment when a lot of…
I love Thelonious Monk's song "Just a Gigolo." It's probably a minor song for him, but whenever I hear a recording of him playing it, I'm mesmerized,… - Glenn Ligon
I love Thelonious Monk's song "Just a Gigolo." It's probably a minor song for him, but whenever I hear a recording of him playing it, I'm mesmerized,…
I graduated from Wesleyan University with a b.a. in art. I was really headed toward an architecture degree, but when I did the requirements for the m… - Glenn Ligon
I graduated from Wesleyan University with a b.a. in art. I was really headed toward an architecture degree, but when I did the requirements for the m…
Paint is a very sensual material. It's lovely to work with and lovely to look at. - Glenn Ligon
Paint is a very sensual material. It's lovely to work with and lovely to look at.
A key text for me is James Baldwin's essays. And, in particular, his essay Stranger in the Village. It's a text that I've used in a lot of paintings.… - Glenn Ligon
A key text for me is James Baldwin's essays. And, in particular, his essay Stranger in the Village. It's a text that I've used in a lot of paintings.…
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