Glenn Ligon's Untitled: Four Etchings | Facing History & Ourselves

Search

Give
Sign Up Log In

Search

Give
Sign Up Log In
Gallery

Glenn Ligon's Untitled: Four Etchings

Artist Glenn Ligon created Untitled: Four Etchings using quotations from writer Zora Neale Hurston's essay, "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" and Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man.
Last Updated:

At a Glance

gallery copy
Gallery

Language

English — US

Subject

  • Civics & Citizenship
  • History
  • Social Studies
  • Racism
  • Culture & Identity
Black ink etching on white paper with the words "I do not always feel colored" written repeatedly. The ink gets smudged and illegible toward the end
Black ink etching on white paper with the words "I do not always feel colored" written repeatedly. The ink gets smudged and illegible toward the end
A black ink etching on white paper with the words, "I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background" repeatedly printed. The words smudge and get blacker at the end
A black ink etching on white paper with the words, "I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background" repeatedly printed. The words smudge and get blacker at the end
Black on Black etching that says, "“I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids—and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.”
Black on Black etching that says, "“I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids—and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.”
Black on black etching that begins with "I am the Invisible Man…"
Black on black etching that begins with "I am the Invisible Man…"

Glenn Ligon, Four Etchings [A]

In this white on black etching, Glenn Ligon repeats "I do not always feel colored," a phrase from Zora Neale Hurston's essay "How It Feels to Be Colored Me."

Credit:
Glenn Ligon/Reproduced with permission from Thomas Dane Gallery

Glenn Ligon, Four Etchings [A]

This black-on-white etching quotes Zora Neale Hurston's essay "How It Feels to be Colored Me."

Credit:
Glenn Ligon/Reproduced with permission from Thomas Dane Gallery

Glenn Ligon, Untitled - Four Etchings [C]

In this black-on-black etching, Glenn Ligon uses Ralph Ellison's quote from the prologue of his novel, Invisible Man (1952): "I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids—and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus side-shows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only themselves, or figments of their imagina-"

Credit:
Glenn Ligon/Reproduced with permission from Thomas Dane Gallery

Glenn Ligon, Untitled - Four Etchings [D]

In this second black-on-black etching, Glenn Ligon also uses Ralph Ellison's quote from the prologue of his novel, Invisible Man (1952), though this one uses the complete quote, which ends "...figments of their imagination-indeed everything."

Credit:
Glenn Ligon/Reproduced with permission from Thomas Dane Gallery

You might also be interested in…

More Like This Teaching Resources Learning & Events
Using the strategies from Facing History is almost like an awakening.
— Claudia Bautista, Santa Monica, Calif
Contact us