Glenn Ligon: Encounters and Collisions

Glenn Ligon (b 1960) is one of the most significant American artists of his generation. Much of his work relates to abstract expressionism and minimalist painting, remixing formal characteristics to highlight the cultural and social histories of the time, such as the civil rights movement.

This exhibition brings together artworks and other material he references in his own work and writings, or work with which he shares certain affinities. His practice, especially his painting, is deeply involved in the legacy of Post-War American art, which he enriches through references to American history, especially African-American experience. This exhibition features many major figures such as Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Jasper Johns alongside Ligon’s near contemporaries including Chris Ofili, Lorna Simpson and Felix Gonzales-Torres. Wider cultural phenomena such as the photojournalism of the Civil Rights struggle and Sun Ra’s seminal film Space is the Place also feature alongside the work of the artist.