Glenn Ligon’s diptych, Condition Repor t is comprised of two side-by-side prints. Though simple, each contains a nested stack of historical and self-referential quotations. Both black-and-white prints depict a version of Ligon’s 1988 painting, Untitled (I Am A Man) , which declares the words of the parenthetical in blocky black letters. Ligon’s painting, of course, is itself a reappropriation and, in some ways, a reproduction. Based on the simple, declarative protest signs carried by sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Ligon’s painting recontextualized this now-iconic object as a work of art. While the print on the left of Condition Report directly mirrors Ligon’s 1988 painting, the print on the right of the pair includes marks, scribbles, and hand-written notations around the edges and borders of the image. These additions to the work are the condition report notes of the title, and refer back to the 1988 original—though this time not as it existed as a symbol of a historical event, but as it exists in the present as a rarified art object. Tracing a simple phrase—I AM A MAN—through these iterations as declaration, symbol, object, and surface, Ligon levies questions of representation and race, commodification and history, and the value and preciousness of one’s identity.
American artist Glenn Ligon is well known for his conceptually based works in paint, neon, photography, sculpture, and video. He draws upon American history, literature, and other sources to create works centered on the black American experience. Ligon filters through cultural sources to create compositions that highlight social inequalities, commemorate struggles, and point fingers at hypocrisy. Rendered in neon, through paint, and in other media, Ligon often draws out the words of others—be they the sanitation workers who protested in Memphis, Tennessee, with signs declaring I AM A MAN; or the controversial and confrontational Richard Pryor, whose jokes become electric letters on Ligon’s canvases.
Arthur Tress Sought the Shadow Side of Photography Skip to content Arthur Tress, "Boy with Root Hands, New York, New York" from the series The Dream Collector (1971) (all photos Ksenya Gurshtein/ Hyperallergic ) LOS ANGELES — The earliest recorded evidence of humans’ fascination with dreams dates to antiquity, when Heraclitus wrote, “When men dream, each has his own world...
FALL HITS: a variety show in sound & vision Hosted by Irwin Swirnoff Saturday, September 23 , 6–8pm, doors 5:30pm / Free Filmmaker, writer, and curator Irwin Swirnoff hosts an evening of sound & vision with Bay Area musicians & performers Idris Ackamoor, Marielle V Jakobsons, Viet Lê, Bongz Nguyen, Samantha Weinert, and Wizard Apprentice...
Weekly Picks: Singapore (6 - 12 August 2018) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Singapore August 6, 2018 Premanadi by Temple of Fine Arts 11 – 12 August 2018 Premanadi – The River of Love is a dance-drama that follows the story of a family that goes on a journey while their boatmen and guide tell them of the myths and legends of the river that they pass...
The two works in the Kadist collection, Observador Pasivo and 3600 besos por hora by Diaz are culled from a vast compilation of videos and performances for the camera...
Laura Raicovich on a 1954 Article About the State of Western Museums – ARTnews.com Skip to main content By Alex Greenberger Plus Icon Alex Greenberger Senior Editor, ARTnews View All March 19, 2021 1:39pm ©ARTnews Today, critics of museums’ values point to histories of colonialism and structural racism...
Sandi Tan’s "Shirkers": Moving Backwards in Order to Move Forwards | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles December 19, 2018 By Ke Weiliang (1180 words, six-minute read) NB: It is important to differentiate between the two versions of Shirkers that were filmed...
Artist Spotlight: Maya Kabat – Art and Cake August 14, 2023 August 14, 2023 Author Artist Spotlight: Maya Kabat Maya Kabat, “Pool Time/Super Spatial Los Angeles” Diptych, Oil on canvas on layered wood panels, 36×36 inches, 2023 What does a day in your art practice look like? Generally, I am in my tiny studio at home in Berkeley oil painting or at my studio in Oakland preparing canvases and doing other kinds of prep work or experimentation with other materials...
Reflections on the Sight/Unseen Asian Drama Conference | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Che-Min Hsieh September 20, 2018 By Benedict Leong (1700 words, 10-minute read) The Sight/Unseen Asian Drama Conference was a two-day event on 26 – 27 April 2018 at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Tara Arts ...
White Corner (2006) is a video installation, projected on two protruding perpendicular walls...
Young Min Moon’s recent paintings repetitively portray the rituals bound up in the Korean tradition of Jesa...
Bertrand Dezoteux — Projection de Harmonie — L’ahah Griset — Screening — Slash Paris Login Newsletter Twitter Facebook Bertrand Dezoteux — Projection de Harmonie — L’ahah Griset — Screening — Slash Paris English Français Home Events Artists Venues Magazine Videos Back Previous Next Bertrand Dezoteux — Projection de Harmonie Screening Drawing, film Upcoming Bertrand Dezoteux, Harmonie (épisode 1), 2018 Film d’animation Courtesy Galerie Anne Barrault, Paris Bertrand Dezoteux Projection de Harmonie In 4 days: Friday, February 16, 2024 at 7 PM Bertrand Dezoteux Projection de film : “Harmonie” Le 16.02.24 à 19h L’ahah #Griset 4 cité Griset, 75011 Paris Projection du film de Bertrand Dezoteux, Harmonie, suivie d’un échange avec Bernard Gaube modéré par Camille Debrabant, commissaire de l’exposition « Hunimalité »...
El mar y sus múltiples afluentes (The Sea and its Multiple Tributaries) builds on the concept of trafficking that Adriana Bustos has been exploring over the last decade...