Glenn Ligon

Des Parisiens noirs

March 26th — July 21st, 2019
Musée d'Orsay - Paris — France

The installation, “Some Black Parisians,” consists of 12 large scale neons which highlight the names of some of the models, performers and writers who appear in important French works of art from the 19th and early 20th centuries.   

While some of these figures are well known to the general public (Josephine Baker and Alexandre Dumas père, for example) some, such as Laure, who posed as a maid for Édouard Manet’s painting Olympia, remain relatively obscure. Although a central figure in one of Manet’s most important works, as of yet Laure’s surname is unknown, and her presence is often barely acknowledged in the extensive scholarship on the work.  

This “highly visible invisibility” is the fate of many black figures in French art and “Some Black Parisians” is an attempt to redress this by placing Laure’s name, among others, “up in lights.”  Rendered in white neon script painted black on the front, the names will be placed on the two towers at the end of the museum’s central nave. The neon signatures were created by asking friends and colleagues to write the names of various models in their own handwriting. These were then blown-up in scale and mounted on aluminum supports. Visible from many vantage points within the museum, the prominence of the names will signal a shift in the importance and legibility of these black Parisians within the history of art.  

In addition to the twelve names, the words “nom inconnu” will appear in neon typeface at the top of one of the towers, an acknowledgment of the names of models we still do not know.  

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