Glenn Ligon

Glenn Ligon (born 1960)

Ligon is based in New York City. He attended Wesleyan University (BA, 1982) and the Whitney Independent Study Program (1985). His distinctions include NEA and Guggenheim Fellowships, Rockefeller Foundation and MacDowell Colony residencies, and participation in two Whitney Biennials. Ligon explores in multiple mediums the expression of identity—particularly race and sexuality—and obstacles to such expression. He is best known for text-based paintings in which he stencils and obscures quotations about identity appropriated from literary sources.

Important Source Material:

Berwick, Carly. “Stranger in America: Glenn Ligon.” Art in America. 2 May 2011.

Ligon, Glenn. Yourself in the World: Selected Writings and Interviews. Ed. Scott Rothkopf. New Haven: Yale University Press; New York: in association with Whitney Museum of American Art, 2011.

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