I apologize in advance if this post comes off as being all over the place, but I just saw a lot of interesting material within the first five minutes of reading about Ligon.
The first thing that struck me about him was that he is African American. I really like this, because, as far as I know, all of the artists we have read about thus far have been Caucasian. I think that’s especially relevant when dealing with conceptual art. Conceptual art is, in its definition, is art that is trying to convey a message, and I think that, in America, experiences can be quite different between different racial groups. These disparities will lead to different messages trying to be displayed by art. For classic art, this is not as important. If one is looking at a picture of a pretty mountain, it is not as important if the painter is an Asian woman or a Latino man, because the art is not trying to make a point about social injustice, etc.
The second thing that struck me about Ligon right away was from the interviewmagazine.com article. In it, he says early in the interview that he did not always want to be an artist, but it happened over time. I like the way that he mentioned that he was interested in literature as well, and it’s easy to see the way that he incorporates his love of literature by combining words with his art.
The image that I am choosing to post is by Franz Kline, and it is called “Black Reflections.” I chose this painting, because Ligon mentioned that Kline was an artist that he was inspired by. I can kind of see this influence in the dark way that Kline paints and the abstractness of the painting.
I like how you mentioned that an artist's ethnicity/race influences their art because they have different perspectives of the world. This is a result of different social injustices certain groups have faced. Ligon's art is truly unique in expressing his ideas as an African American.
ReplyDeleteI think Ligon is a classic example of someone who found his passion through exploration, a process so many people seem to underestimate. I think a lot of people choose what they want to do at a young age and don't seem to deviate very much from that as they grow older. There is nothing wrong with this, I think a lot of people do have singular passions at a young age. I do, however, think that passion and happiness can be developed. If a person, like Ligon, continuously experiments and tries anything that interests them or makes them happy, they will eventually find something they could spend their entire life doing.
ReplyDeleteI like how you pointed out that Ligon did not want to be an artist. I think as he discovered himself through his work he like what he was finding. I think he found that art was a great way to find out more about himself and use it to express many ideas he has. I think that he found a way to explore himself and since it works so well for him, his art reaches out to so many.
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