untitled suite (1 of 4 prints)

Glenn Ligon

born 1960

untitled suite (1 of 4 prints), 1992

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: Rives BFK™ paper; aquatint; sugar-lift; soft-ground etching; spit biting

Dimensions:
Plate Mark/Block Dimensions (Height x Width): 601 x 403 mm
Plate Mark/Block Dimensions (Height x Width): 23 11/16 x 15 7/8 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 641 x 443 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 25 1/4 x 17 7/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 32 x 24 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: Lucy Shaw Schultz Fund

Accession number: 1993.0051.01

Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Art and Activism: 50 Years of Africana Studies at KU

Brosseau Center for Learning: In Conversation with the 2016 KU Common Book

Ligon uses the texts of African American authors as images to address issues of racial identity. The black-on-white text is from the 1928 essay by Zora Neale Hurston, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” and the black-on-black text incorporates the first lines of Ralph Ellison’s 1952 book, "Invisible Man." “I wanted to pursue things, to know things, but I could not match the means of knowing that came naturally to me with the expectations of professors. The pursuit of knowing was freedom to me, the right to declare your own curiosities and follow them through all manner of books. I was made for the library, not the classroom. The library was open, unending, free.” ("Between the World and Me," p. 48)

Exhibition Label: "Sum of the Parts: Recent Works on Paper," Jun-2001, Stephen Goddard Ligon uses the texts of African American authors as images to address issues of racial identity in a predominantly white society. The black-on-white text is from the 1928 essay by Zora Neale Hurston, “How It feels To Be Colored Me,” and the black-on-black text incorporates the first lines of Ralph Ellison’s 1952 book, Invisible Man. Archive Label 2003 (version 2 for #1-#4): Ligon uses his series of prints to address issues of race and racism. Known for his use of found text, Ligon appropriates sentences from authors such as Zora Neale Hurston. Ligon uses black words on white paper as a metaphor for race relations. He explains that “The prints play with the notion of being ‘colored’ and how that obscures meaning, (obscures the text), and also creates this beautiful abstract thing.” Archive Label: Known for his word-as-image works of art, Ligon addresses aspects of race and racism using black-and-white text and paper as a metaphor for race relations. The texts in black on white paper are from “How It Feels To Be Colored Me,” a 1928 essay by Zora Neale Hurston. Those in black text on black paper repeat the first lines of Ralph Ellison’s 1952 book Invisible Man.