Black & White

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: Byron Kim
Glenn Ligon
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: oil
Mediums Description: oil on wood panels
Classifications: Painting
Highlights: Asian American Art
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.