--- title: "3 Canvas Quotes By Glenn Ligon" description: "3 Canvas quotes by Glenn Ligon. Plus more from Glenn Ligon and more Canvas sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/glenn-ligon-10867_artist_at-a-lecture-a-guy-said-to-me-you-know-w_1119031.png" --- > [At a lecture, a guy said to me, "You know, when I look at your work, I don't know what I'm looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/at-a-lecture-a-guy-said-to-me-you-know-when-i-look-at-your-work-i-don/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/glenn-ligon-10867_artist_at-a-lecture-a-guy-said-to-me-you-know-w_1119031.png) > [Jazz musicians like John Coltrane needed these very clear titles for their abstract music, and your decision to bring voices into your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/jazz-musicians-like-john-coltrane-needed-these-very-clear-titles-for/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/36b/glenn-ligon-10867_abstract_jazz-musicians-like-john-coltrane-needed_1245762.png) > [At some point I realized that the text was the painting and that everything else was extraneous. The painting became the act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/at-some-point-i-realized-that-the-text-was-the-painting-and-that/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b1e/glenn-ligon-10867_abstraction_at-some-point-i-realized-that-the-text-w_1814528.png) ## Other authors on Canvas - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-anna-bartlett-warner-13611.jpg) Philip Guston 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/philip-guston/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-pablo-picasso-73081.jpg) Pablo Picasso 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/pablo-picasso/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b011/author-henry-david-thoreau-41473.jpg) Henry David Thoreau 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/henry-david-thoreau/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b007/author-danny-kaye-26721.jpg) Danny Kaye 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/danny-kaye/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-vincent-van-gogh-93793.jpg) Vincent Van Gogh 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/vincent-van-gogh/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bernard-beckett-17293.jpg) Charles Webster Hawthorne 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/charles-webster-hawthorne/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b024/author-wassily-kandinsky-94601.jpg) Wassily Kandinsky 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/wassily-kandinsky/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-alfred-jodl-11301.jpg) John Constable 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/john-constable/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b013/author-joan-miro-50198.jpg) Joan Miro 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/joan-miro/) ## More by Glenn Ligon > [Throughout African-American literature, the writer has, in a sense, been burdened by the necessity of pleading the case for the whole race. For example,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/throughout-african-american-literature-the-writer-has-in-a-sense-been/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [Race is not something inherent to one's being: One does feel more or less colored, depending on the situation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/race-is-not-something-inherent-to-one-s-being-one-does-feel-more-or/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [I think there's an interest right now in the performance aspect of artworks, instead of just hanging things on walls. We're in a moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/i-think-there-s-an-interest-right-now-in-the-performance-aspect-of/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [A key text for me is James Baldwin's essays. And, in particular, his essay Stranger in the Village. It's a text that I've used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/a-key-text-for-me-is-james-baldwin-s-essays-and-in-particular-his/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [It's a great idea: to feel the rhythm of something by seeing how it flows on a page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/it-s-a-great-idea-to-feel-the-rhythm-of-something-by-seeing-how-it/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [So much of my work has been about disappearing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/so-much-of-my-work-has-been-about-disappearing/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [I'm interested in when language fails, when it is opaque.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/i-m-interested-in-when-language-fails-when-it-is-opaque/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [In writing, something is always left out: it can't be articulated in the space of an essay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/in-writing-something-is-always-left-out-it-can-t-be-articulated-in/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [Willem de Kooning paintings are a language to be learned. When they were first shown, they were ridiculed as being just drips and splatters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/willem-de-kooning-paintings-are-a-language-to-be-learned-when-they/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [Much of my work is engaged with 'America' - the idea of America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/much-of-my-work-is-engaged-with-america-the-idea-of-america/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [My mother really didn't come from artists. Her famous quote to me was, "The only artists I've ever heard of are dead." The pottery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/my-mother-really-didn-t-come-from-artists-her-famous-quote-to-me-was/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [I like having a studio to go to. It's like having a job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/i-like-having-a-studio-to-go-to-it-s-like-having-a-job/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [I switched up so that I could work 12-hour shifts at the firm on the weekends so I could have days free to paint.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/i-switched-up-so-that-i-could-work-12-hour-shifts-at-the-firm-on-the/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [I graduated from Wesleyan University with a b.a. in art. I was really headed toward an architecture degree, but when I did the requirements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/i-graduated-from-wesleyan-university-with-a-b-a-in-art-i-was-really/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) > [One of the interesting things about quoting in an artwork is that there is a repeated confusion about who is speaking - one essentially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/one-of-the-interesting-things-about-quoting-in-an-artwork-is-that/) [Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/glenn-ligon/#itemlist", "name": "3 Canvas Quotes By Glenn Ligon", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "At a lecture, a guy said to me, \"You know, when I look at your work, I don't know what I'm looking at, but when I look at a Willem de Kooning painting, I know what that is.\" I said, \"Well, the paintings I'm doing have a very legible sentence at the top of the canvas.\" At a lecture, a guy said to me, \"You know, when I look at your work, I don't know what I'm looking at, but when I look at a de Kooning painting, I know what that is.\" I said, \"Well, the paintings I'm doing have a very legible sentence at the top of the canvas.\"", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Glenn Ligon" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/at-a-lecture-a-guy-said-to-me-you-know-when-i-look-at-your-work-i-don/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/glenn-ligon-10867_artist_at-a-lecture-a-guy-said-to-me-you-know-w_1119031.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/glenn-ligon-10867_artist_at-a-lecture-a-guy-said-to-me-you-know-w_1119031.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac1/glenn-ligon-10867_artist_at-a-lecture-a-guy-said-to-me-you-know-w_1119031.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“At a lecture, a guy said to me, \"You know, when I look at your work, I don't know what I'm looking at, but…” — Glenn Ligon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Jazz musicians like John Coltrane needed these very clear titles for their abstract music, and your decision to bring voices into your music as a way to tap into content. 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