Glenn Ligon uses his artistic practice to explore Black American history, culture, identity, and representation. Critically engaging with traditions of painting and Conceptual art, Ligon is widely recognized for making layered, text-based paintings and sculptures that address the systemic erasure of Black and marginalized voices throughout history. Warm Broad Glow II, 2011, in Glenstone’s collection, borrows language from writer Gertrude Stein’s 1909 book Three Lives, isolating the phrase “negro sunshine” and presenting it in neon letters with the front of the neon painted black. By quoting language from more than a century ago, Ligon inserts the words into the contemporary moment, prompting viewers to confront the language of the past and its place in the present.

–Nora Severson Cafritz, from the Glenstone Field Guide