A black-and-white print of a historical graphic of an enslaved person placed above a paragraph that describes physical attributes and personality traits of the Black artist.

Runaways [1 of 10]

Glenn Ligon (b. 1960)

Date

1993
Object Type

Prints
Medium

Lithograph
Dimensions

Image: 16 x 12 in.
Sheet: 16 x 12 in.
Edition

23/45 (10AP)
Inscriptions

Sheet, Recto:
l.l. along bottom edge of sheet in graphite: 23/45
l.r. along bottom edge of sheet in graphite: Glenn Ligon [artist's hand] '93
Credit Line

Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, Purchase with funds provided by the Cynthia Brants Trust
Accession Number

2015.13.1
Copyright

© 1993 Glenn Ligon

To create his series Runaways, Ligon asked his friends to write short texts describing him as if they were filling out a missing-persons report. The resulting accounts of his mannerisms and physical features struck Ligon as eerie reminders of the advertisements that 19th-century enslavers placed in local newspapers offering rewards for the capture of those attempting to escape slavery. To draw out this connection, he presented his friends’ texts with typography and imagery appropriated from historical newspapers and abolitionist pamphlets.

The series alludes to the lasting impact of slavery on how Black individuals continue to be represented in American society. At the same time, the varied characterizations of Ligon in Runaways underscore how individual identities elude socially and historically constructed markers of race, class, and gender.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)

Identity

April 30–October 23, 2016

Identity explores community, celebrity, and individual representation through portraiture, delving into the idea that identity in American culture is as much influenced by individual presentation as factors that are externally determined.

Location: Off view

See more by Glenn Ligon

Educator Resources

What connections exist between text and image?

What are the limitations of a physical description of a person? What are the benefits of such a description?

How can the language you hear used to describe someone impact your opinion of that person?

What is an avatar? Why might someone choose to create or adopt an avatar to represent themselves?
Grades 4–12

Before addressing the works of art, have students create a description of themselves that could be used to identify them in a crowded room by someone who had never met them. The description should be about three to four sentences long. Have one or two students read their descriptions. After looking at and discussing the Ligon images, ask students how they might extend their description to give a fuller, more precise sense of themselves, and have them add an avatar.

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