- 447
Glenn Ligon
Description
- Glenn Ligon
- Black Like Me #3
- signed twice, titled and dated 1992 on the reverse
- oil stick and gesso on canvas
- 30 1/2 by 20 in. 77.5 by 50.8 cm.
Provenance
Acquired by the present owner from the above in 2006
Exhibited
Condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
Literary appropriations are central in Glenn Ligon's work, having borrowed allusions from Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Pryor and of course John Howard Griffin. In the present work, Black Like Me #3, Ligon appropriates and isolates Griffin's profound observation, and then subsequently repeats the text throughout: I HAD EXPECTED TO SEE MYSELF DISGUISED BUT THIS WAS SOMETHING ELSE. Stenciled in stark black capital letters across the top of the canvas, the text repeats line after line until the words at the bottom dissolve into shadowy blackness.
Fundamentally, the use of both form and language establish Ligon's paintings as something all-encompassing. According to Darby English, "Ligon alters these conceptions by rendering the work's meaning structure open by means both appropriative (e.g. repurposing texts and forms) and mechanical (e.g. painting through a stencil, typing), which locate him somewhere between the source and its manifestation, between representer and represented." (Darby English, "Glenn Ligon: Committed to Difficulty," in Exh. Cat., Toronto, The Power Plant (and traveling), Glenn Ligon Some Changes, 2005, p. 38). The build-up of paint and oil stick on the canvas surface, which gradually becomes darker as the text proceeds from top to bottom and the struggle to decipher the text emerges as an integral part of its meaning: the struggle to understand Griffin's identity. Literally and metaphorically, the words, "I Had Expected To See Myself Disguised But This Was Something Else" progress into a void of black.