Born in the Bronx area of New York City, Glenn Ligon creates mixed-media works which reference the visual arts, literature and history to explore his experiences as an African American and a gay man living in the United States.

In Introduction (5) (2004), the opaque typeface and the black-and-white palette both highlight and obscure the text and image, inviting us to examine the work’s surface and consider the ability—or failure—of words to communicate on issues of race and identity. The painting belongs to a larger, signature body of text-based works on paper and canvas in which he manipulated the same heavy, stenciled typeface. “When I choose a text, it's because I've had a very visceral reaction to it,” the artist explains, “the paintings are an attempt to communicate that to a viewer. It's more group therapy than individual sessions.”