YOURSELF IN THE WORLD

Writing that feels akin to that of a genius art critic, as imperceptible nuances come into sharp focus and superbly astute, reliable inferences.

Book cover of Yourself In the World: Selected Writings and Interviews, Glenn Ligon, (Whitney Museum of American Art), 2011

This book of selected writings and interviews was published on the occasion of Glenn Ligon’s mid-career retrospective at the Whitney Museum in 2011. I did not see the show, but came upon the book at Camden Arts Center, in London, in 2012. Ten essays by the artist, on canonical artists, American history, Art history, contemporary culture. Ligon engages with archs that populated his thinking process during the formative years and beyond, and what seethes. He is a masterful eyewitness who documents biographies and trajectories extremely well. The writing feels akin to that of a genius art critic, as imperceptible nuances come into sharp focus and superbly astute, reliable inferences. The alert mind will leap forward, in our own understanding, and mapping of the world.

Twelve Interviews, also, with Glenn Ligon: conversations with critics, curators, art historians, independent writers, authors, and artists. Digressing on varying approaches to practicing art, thinking about art and meaning-making, but also craft, logjams, weightlessness and ambivalence, ways of anchoring into the world, all of the keys are here, and out in the world, all around for the discerning eye. There are loads of in-common references, even as a novice, points of pressure that we share as a collective. I believe he addresses young minds in particular, open minds. Tells stories as artwork. He articulates private conflict extremely well, elevates language and does abstraction very well, providing an invaluable resource for aspiring artists and writers alike. The same mind is behind the stenciled literary fragments and evocative quotes on canvas, ostensibly obscured, and commending the viewer’s attention to a subject constantly moving in and out of focus.