Glenn Ligon, Condition Report

two prints by glenn ligon, both depicting a painting of a protest sign, white with black letters, reading i am a man. the left print is just an image of the painting. the right is the image annotated all over by a conservator to mark the flaws, damage, and condition issues, which were abundant, because ligon made the painting from an unstable combo of oil and enamel, and it's kind of fragile. condition report is the greatest glenn ligon work ever, as long as you include the original painting as part of it. in the collection of the nga
Glenn Ligon, Condition Report, 2000, iris prints and screenprint, each sheet 32 x 22 3/4 in., ed. 20+ 7 APs, and 2 PPs, the National Gallery of Art’s is AP5, and they have the painting

It took a lot of effort to not include it, but despite making the absolute best condition report-related artwork ever, Glenn Ligon really did not need to be dragged into a discussion of Ron Perelman’s art collection lawsuit.

The only reason I wouldn’t run into a burning house to save Condition Report (2000) is because it’s an edition of 20. But if you told me I could keep it, I would probably change.

These went almost instantly into museum collections. I am pretty sure Perelman didn’t get one. But the NGA wins, because they also have the original: the enamel painting Ligon made of the garbage workers protest sign he saw hanging in Congressman Charlie Rangel’s Harlem office as a student. He discussed all three works in 2013.

Condition Report, 2000 [glennligonstudio]