The thing that stuck out the most to me when reading the three selected texts on Glenn Ligon is the controversy surrounding his work. Not only were the themes and exhibits controversial, but also he, as an artist, is controversial. Out of the three texts, the two written by authors about Ligon had very different opinions of his body of work, or at least it seems that way. The first, from artinfo.com, seems to have a more negative view of Ligon’s art. Obviously it is not outwardly negative, but I get the feeling from reading, based on the word-usage, that the author of the article does not quite understand Ligon’s work, and perhaps doesn’t want to.
The author writes in the closing paragraph, “Yet Ligon’s work does not sit easily within such clean lines. Almost all of his art functions as a kind of conceptual double-negative, engaging with the subject matter of identity only to undercut the supposition that he is saying something clear-cut about it, offering a loaded reference, and then holding it at ironic distance.” While he is just offering his opinion of the body of work, and it does not seem outwardly negative, the words: double negative, undercut, and distance seem critical.
Conversely, the New York Times article seems to praise Ligon. The author does not use any words that stick out to me that provide negative undertones. Also, the article includes more of Ligon’s own words to describe his work. Ligon’s words about his art are obviously positive.
Ligon’s art intrigues me as well. I feel like there will always be controversy surrounding him because of the themes he highlights. The exhibit with the naked, masculine African-American males is of particular interest to me. I would have loved to see the different reactions to the art. Ligon’s art makes people uncomfortable. When people are faced with the prejudice that they did not know they held, their beliefs are challenged. I think that is the most fascinating thing about Ligon.
The picture I included is the most outwardly controversial image that I found when searching for an image. I think it is the perfect example of the controversey surrounding Ligon. It also points out what the critical article was talking about when he mentioned that Ligon's text is often a double negative. However, this one doesn't seem to distance Ligon from his audience. What do you think?
"Ligon's art makes people uncomfortable."
ReplyDeleteI love this line in your response and agree very much with it. I think the success in Ligon's art is that discomfort. Where does it come from? Why do we feel that way? I recently watched an interview on the news about Huckleberry Finn and the controversy surrounding the latest published versions of the book removing N-word and replacing it with slave. The professor being interviewed was angrily against the plan, because he felt that by removing the word, you were taking away an important lesson in the history of America. The reason why this made me think of that interview, is because likewise, maybe the discomfort is inherent to the pieces of artwork. They're meant to make you feel uncomfortable and question your past ideals. They're meant to tell the truth, despite it's flaws, so that the audience can gather the most from it that they can. I agree with you that this aspect of his work is definitely the most fascinating.