Glenn Ligon on 'Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America'

In January 2019, the artist Glenn Ligon was asked by curator Okwui Enwezor to serve as an advisor to an exhibition he had conceived of titled, “Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America.” While Enwezor passed away on March 15, 2019, the exhibition was able to be realized after his death with the help of an advisory team, which included Glenn Ligon, Mark Nash, and Naomi Beckwith. The show will be on view on all three main exhibition floors of the New Museum from February 17 through June 6 and features work by 37 artists. Enwezor viewed these works as illustrative of the concept of mourning as a complex political act – one that serves a critical role in Black life in the US.