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Preview image of work. lithograph on paper,  Runaways 13518

2003.21.7

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Runaways

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Artist

Glenn Ligon (Bronx, New York, 1960 - )

Title

Runaways

Creation Date

1993

Century

late 20th century

Dimensions

16 in. x 12 in. (40.64 cm x 30.48 cm)

Object Type

print

Creation Place

North America, United States

Medium and Support

lithograph on paper

Credit Line

Museum Purchase, Lloyd O. and Marjorie Strong Coulter Fund, © Glenn Ligon; Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, and Thomas Dane Gallery, London

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

2003.21.7

The relationship between the languages of words and images plays a key role in the artist’s lithographic series "Runaways". To create the cycle, Ligon asked a series of friends to create descriptions by which others might recognize him, and then matched these “word portraits” with nineteenth-century emblems depicting escaped slaves. The powerful disjunctions that resulted provoke questions concerning the nature of our knowledge and understanding of one another, suggesting the inadequacy of linguistic description and other systems of representation. By invoking the history of slavery, Ligon examines the larger social and historical forces that shape personal identity, interrogating our ability to overcome, whether as subjects or observers, the perceptions and roles these may reinforce.

Object Description

Print says…
RAN AWAY, Glenn. He is black. He has very short hair and eye glasses. He has quite light skin tone (faded bronze). Not tall. No noticeable accent. Wearing a plum-colored shirt, long-sleeved, and shorts. Very casual and stylish in appearance. He is wearing a bead bracelet (stones – a mixture of black-and-white). He has big hands and fingers. When he walks his feet cross each other a little bit. When he talks, he usually has a big smile towards you, yet he faces you from a slightly different angle. He looks at you from the corner of his eyes. His voice is very calm.