CULTURE EDITION
“My exhibition is a thread that winds its way through the Fitzwilliam – loose in some places, taut in others, which the visitor can choose to follow or encounter serendipitously,” describes Glenn Ligon, whose new show All Over the Place runs until March next year. One of the world’s foremost contemporary artists, Glenn will be showing his own works from the past 35 years, as well as a series of site- specific interventions revealing new perspectives on the Fitzwilliam’s collection and his own artistic career. Greeting visitors will be his striking neon sculpture Waiting for the Barbarians, which will be installed in the museum’s portico entrance. Inside, you can explore his text-based paintings, including Mirror Drawing #9 and Stranger #90, as well as an important early work: Untitled (I Feel Most Colored When I Am Thrown Against A Sharp White Background), which will transform the Octagon gallery. Elsewhere, Glenn has selected artworks and objects from Cambridge collections to bring hidden stories and aesthetic qualities to the fore. Ranging from 18th-century Chinese imitation Wedgwood vases to experimental dry-points by Frank Auerbach, these pieces connect through themes of cultural hybridity, annotation and legibility. In the Upper Marlay galleries, a wall of paintings will be deinstalled to uncover the ghostly traces of previous gallery hangs. In this space, Glenn has chosen to exhibit Adoration of the Magi (circa 1520) from the Fitzwilliam Museum, which features Balthazar as a Black African king, alongside one of his own Untitled (Study for Negro Sunshine) drawings. “Looking in from the margins to see more clearly, thus shifting perspectives and acknowledging what is not seen, sits as part of Ligon’s artistic and curatorial practice, which is at the heart of All Over the Place ,” notes curator Habda Rashid. “This framing methodology enhances our aesthetic, poetic and conceptual understanding of all the works in the exhibition, as well as collections more widely and the role of museums in making sense of the world.” Glenn Ligon: All Over the Place
CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK OCTOBER 2024 15
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