Glen Ligon Response

First off, I would like to say that I have great respect for the parents of Glen Ligon. I believe that the attitude and atmosphere created in their home is the kind that every child should grow up in. When parents support and don’t try to control the dreams of their kids is when these kids will try their best at what they actually enjoy. Doing something one enjoys and even loves is the root of all best results in my opinion. It is hard trying to achieve someone else’s goals and it is impossible to reach one's greatest potential by doing so. While helping Glen try hard at his vision, his parents actually helped him produce the most pure work he could.

Ligon’s paintings differ from other artist that we had looked at in that he does not have much pressure to do things a certain way. His paintings look clean. He seems to expose “the outsiders,” as he refers to his projects, in a very calm and neutral way. Also, I am getting the vibe that he is doing this because he can. He himself is both African American and gay which I guess helps to keep away many oppositions and protestors against his works.

I also enjoy his concept of having people stop and think about what is going on in the images. He seems to enjoy puzzling people so they don’t just look and know that that is a flower or a person or a cat and look past everything else.

I am including a picture of Glen Ligon’s self-portrait. Since it is the back of his head it makes me stop and think twice about what his intentions were. Just like his works, it is not something you can glance at and recognize and keep walking.