Entry by Glenn Ligon
Glenn Ligon, Rückenfigur, 2009
Neon, Edition of 3 with 2 artist's proofs, 24 x 145 1/2 x 4 in.
Glenn Ligon’s Rückenfigur (2009) is an example of the artist’s painted neon sculptures. Ligon is best known for exploring the limits and meaning of language with his text‐based work. In this piece, neon letters spell out “America,” Ligon’s homeland, and a frequent subject of his practice. The title “Rückenfigur” is a German term for a figure seen from behind; often used in an art historical context, it describes a figure in the foreground of a painting, surveying the scene before him, with his back to the viewer. Likewise, although the word “America” is legible to its audience, the letters face the wall, away from the viewer—the non‐symmetrical letters indicating the characters’ true direction. Ligon reveals the back of the word, inviting a consideration of multiple points of view and dichotomies in American culture.
