id:			157289
accession number:	1994.159.1
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1994.159.1
updated:		

Untitled (Four Etchings), 1992. Glenn Ligon (American, b. 1960), Max Protech, Inc.. One of four soft-ground etchings, aquatint, spit bite, and sugarlift on Fabriano; sheet: 64 x 44 cm (25 3/16 x 17 5/16 in.); platemark: 60 x 40.2 cm (23 5/8 x 15 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1994.159.1

title:				Untitled (Four Etchings)
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1992
creation date earliest:		1992
creation date latest:		1992
current location:		
creditline:			John L. Severance Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	America, 20th century
technique:	One of four soft-ground etchings, aquatint, spit bite, and sugarlift on Fabriano
department:	Prints
collection:	PR - Etching
type:		Print
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Glenn Ligon (American, b. 1960)  - artist

* Max Protech, Inc.  - published by

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measurements: Sheet: 64 x 44 cm (25 3/16 x 17 5/16 in.); Platemark: 60 x 40.2 cm (23 5/8 x 15 13/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	45 plus 10 APs

support materials:

	description:	Rives BFK white wove, mould made paper
	watermarks:	

inscriptions:

	inscription:	lower left, in pencil: "32/45"; lower right, in pencil: "Glenn Ligon ‘92"

	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Who RU2 Day: Mass Media and the Fine Art Print
	opening date:   2018-11-18T05:00:00
	<i>Who RU2 Day: Mass Media and the Fine Art Print</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 18, 2018-March 24, 2019).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 229): April 13, 2009 - September 11, 2009.<br><br>The Cleveland Museum of Art (1/26/2014 - 5/18/2014); "Our Stories: African American Prints and Drawings"

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PROVENANCE

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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
Ligon explores ways in which identity is constructed in relation to others or to suit the expectations of a specific audience. The two etchings from this suite printed in black on white paper repeat the sentences "I do not always feel colored" and "I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background," quotes from Zora Neale Hurston's 1928 essay "How It Feels to Be Colored Me." Ligon explained that "the prints play with the notion of becoming 'colored' and how that 'becoming' obscures meaning [obscures the text] and also creates this beautiful, abstract thing." The other two prints iterate the first lines of Ralph Ellison's 1952 novel <em>Invisible Man</em>. Ligon found that "Ellison uses the metaphor of invisibility to describe the position of blacks in this country—as ghost, present and real but, because of the blindness of racism, remaining unseen." By placing black text on a black background so that it is nearly illegible, Ligon literally did the same.
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RELATED WORKS

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IMAGES