The Art World: What If...?! with Glenn Ligon

Glenn Ligon makes art that asks us to look again. An artist, writer, and curator, his practice moves between the studio and the gallery, the page and the public sphere, spanning painting, neon, print, installation, and beyond. From text-based canvases grounded in the words of James Baldwin to glowing neons that play with the idea of America, and from intimate drawings to monumental works, Glenn explores disappearance, distance, and what happens when language is obscured or transformed. In this conversation, he reflects on the through-lines in his work: from artistic heroes to navigating institutional blind spots, to thinking about the role of artists as citizens. He shares the advice he'd give his younger self and the doubts that continue to drive him forward. This is a conversation about art and history, about freedom and responsibility. What if the real work of artists is to imagine the future we don't yet know how to describe? Tune in wherever you get your podcasts.

You can listen to The Art World: What If...?! with Glenn Ligon online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Art World: What If...?! with Glenn Ligon is an episode from In Other Words by Allan Schwartzman.

This episode is 01:14:21 long.

This episode was published on Sep 4, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from In Other Words when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.