Artworks

Give Us a Poem, 2007

  • Artist

    Glenn Ligon

  • Title

    Give Us a Poem

  • Date

    2007

  • Medium

    Black PVC and white neon

  • Dimensions

    75 5/8 × 74 1/4 in. (192.1 × 188.6 cm)

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Glenn Ligon

  • Object Number

    2007.32

Initially created as a site-specific installation for the Studio Museum in Harlem’s lobby, Give Us a Poem demonstrates Glenn Ligon’s ability to infuse language with alternate meaning by translating it in bright neon. Ligon sourced the text from a speech Muhammad Ali made at Harvard University in 1975. When asked by a student to give the audience a poem, Ali replied “me, we,” in a simple but profound pairing that connects individual and collective experience.


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Artworks

Give Us a Poem, 2007

  • Artist

    Glenn Ligon

  • Title

    Give Us a Poem

  • Date

    2007

  • Medium

    Black PVC and white neon

  • Dimensions

    75 5/8 × 74 1/4 in. (192.1 × 188.6 cm)

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Glenn Ligon

  • Object Number

    2007.32

Initially created as a site-specific installation for the Studio Museum in Harlem’s lobby, Give Us a Poem demonstrates Glenn Ligon’s ability to infuse language with alternate meaning by translating it in bright neon. Ligon sourced the text from a speech Muhammad Ali made at Harvard University in 1975. When asked by a student to give the audience a poem, Ali replied “me, we,” in a simple but profound pairing that connects individual and collective experience.


Explore further