What if words could carry weight?
From early drawings to his iconic neon works, dive deeper into artist Glenn Ligon’s process and the experiences that shaped him. Growing up in the South Bronx and attending private school on scholarship in Manhattan, Ligon learned early what it meant to exist between worlds.
In his Brooklyn studio, Ligon channels this tension using texts from writers like James Baldwin, Gertrude Stein, and Zora Neale Hurston, and transforms them through repetition, labor, and time. Through his stencils, oil sticks, layers of paint, and neon, the distorted words take on new form and meaning.
For Ligon, Baldwin’s essay “Stranger in the Village” is not just a reference to but foundation– a ground on which to build, question and reimagine what it means to belong. The parallels between their lives, despite being separated by decades, underscores that the feeling of being a “stranger” is not confined to one place or moment in time.
Ligon’s work suggests that understanding history takes effort– it’s not always clear or comfortable. As he states, “The gains we thought were permanent are temporary, can be reversed, can be assaulted.” He reminds us to never take our histories for granted.
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The comments and opinions expressed in this video are those of the speaker alone, and do not represent the views of The Museum of Modern Art, its personnel, or any artist.
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