Julius Eastman & Glenn Ligon: Evil Nigger

52 Walker is pleased to announce its fourteenth exhibition, pairing works by experimental composer and musician Julius Eastman (1940–1990) and celebrated New York–based artist Glenn Ligon (b. 1960). Titled Evil Nigger after a notable 1979 piano composition by Eastman (who was known to give his works intentionally challenging names), the show is conceived in close partnership with Eastman’s estate. Grounded in Eastman and Ligon’s shared affinity as artists and individuals, this exhibition draws on their complementary interests in authorial voice—in particular, the perilous slippage of context and intent that occurs when language is transmitted and received—as well as their ability to construct meaning through strategies of repetition, obfuscation, and improvisation. On view will be a work based on Eastman’s final unpublished musical score and an expansive installation by Ligon that comprises neon sculptures and paintings and speaks to Eastman’s compelling musical reflections on voice and visibility. In keeping with Ligon’s incisive body of text-based works—which are often rendered in materials such as neon, oil stick, and coal dust—the installation will plumb themes of identity, culture, and the construction of race.