Black & White

Byron Kim, Glenn Ligon, Black & White, 1993, oil on wood panels, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the C.K. Williams Family Foundation, Pamela K. and William A. Royall, Jr., Jane and James H. Cohan, Mihail Lari and Scott Murray, Aimee and Robert Lehrman, Home Front Communications, and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2014.16A-FF, © 1993, Byron Kim and Glenn Ligon
Copied Byron Kim, Glenn Ligon, Black & White, 1993, oil on wood panels, overall: 43 × 71 in. (109.2 × 180.3 cm) each panel: 10 × 8 in. (25.4 × 20.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the C.K. Williams Family Foundation, Pamela K. and William A. Royall, Jr., Jane and James H. Cohan, Mihail Lari and Scott Murray, Aimee and Robert Lehrman, Home Front Communications, and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2014.16A-FF, © 1993, Byron Kim and Glenn Ligon

Artwork Details

Title
Black & White
Artists
Date
1993
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
overall: 43 × 71 in. (109.2 × 180.3 cm) each panel: 10 × 8 in. (25.4 × 20.3 cm)
Copyright
© 1993, Byron Kim and Glenn Ligon
Credit Line
Gift of the C.K. Williams Family Foundation, Pamela K. and William A. Royall, Jr., Jane and James H. Cohan, Mihail Lari and Scott Murray, Aimee and Robert Lehrman, Home Front Communications, and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on wood panels
Classifications
Highlights
Subjects
  • Abstract — geometric
Object Number
2014.16A-FF
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2014.16A-FF

Artwork Description

Black & White is a collaboration between Byron Kim and Glenn Ligon, both of whom were struck by the limited pink-white range of "flesh-colored" paint available in art stores. In response, Kim, who is Korean American, painted sixteen panels of the pinkish flesh tones and Ligon, who is African American, painted sixteen panels using various black pigments. Arranged in an austere grid, Black & White elegantly underscores racial privilege.