My mother really didn't come from artists. Her famous quote to me was, "The only artists I've ever heard of are dead." The pottery classes were meant to be a part of my overall uplift. I knew what it meant to be sent to art classes, but I still didn't know anything about being an artist.
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
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.
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…
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…
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.…
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.
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 said to myself, "If the government thinks I'm an artist, I must be one." - Glenn Ligon
I said to myself, "If the government thinks I'm an artist, I must be one."
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