FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, November 4, 2019
Contact: Joe McConnell, 212-253-7922; tag@treatmentactiongroup.org
– 99 Limited Editions are Available to Advocate Level Sponsors at $2,000 –
NEW YORK, November 4, 2019 – Treatment Action Group (TAG) is honored that acclaimed American Artist Glenn Ligon has created and donated a Limited Art Edition entitled Black Rage (back cover) in an edition of 100 prints (and 20 A/Ps) especially for TAG. The artwork supports the organization’s 2019 Research in Action Awards event, to be held at Town Stages, 221 West Broadway, New York City, on Thursday, November 14, 2019, from 6 – 8 p.m. TAG is an independent, activist and community-based research and policy think tank based in New York City and fighting for better treatment, prevention, a vaccine, and a cure for HIV, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C virus.
Glenn Ligon (b. 1960) is an artist living and working in New York. His work has been in major international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale, Berlin Biennale, Istanbul Biennial, Documenta XI, and Gwangju Biennale. In 2011 the Whitney Museum of American Art held a mid-career retrospective of Ligon’s work that traveled nationally. Important recent shows of Ligon’s have been at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris; a curatorial project with Nottingham Contemporary and Tate Liverpool; and at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis. More information about Ligon’s life and art is at: www.glennligonstudio.com.
“We are honored and humbled by Glenn Ligon’s tremendous generosity in creating Black Rage (back cover) for TAG’s 2019 Limited Art Edition,” said TAG Executive Director Mark Harrington. “All proceeds from sales of the edition will go to fuel TAG’s passionate, science-based advocacy for more research, better prevention and treatment, and policies that support people at risk for or living with HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), or tuberculosis (TB) to live the healthiest life possible, and ultimately to end the three epidemics here in the U.S. and worldwide.”
“TAG is gratified to be able to count Glenn Ligon’s beautiful and poignant work Black Rage (back cover) amongst the exceptional list of artists who have generously supported TAG over the past fourteen years with their unique art editions,” said TAG board member and artist Joy Episalla.
Ligon’s Black Rage (back cover), created in 2019, is the counterpart to an earlier edition he created in 2015 entitled Black Rage, which sold out. The British art publisher Ridinghouse describes the sequence of Ligon’s work encompassing both front and back covers of Black Rage:
Throughout his career, Glenn Ligon has considered problems of language and identity within American history and society, often through the appropriation of imagery and text drawn from literature and popular culture. A People on the Cover continues this approach, tracing the representation of black people in the United States on book covers.
This print dissects the cover of the landmark book Black Rage (1968), in which two psychiatrists examine the anger experienced by African-Americans in the face of persistent racism. Cracks, smudges, scribbles and yellowed tape are mapped out by a conservator, indicating the various flaws found on the cover due to age and wear.
Black Rage (back cover) is a silkscreen and digital print, 11” x 8.5 inches (27.9 x 21 cm) edition of 100 + 20 A/P. Each edition comes with a numbered certificate signed by the artist. The 2019 TAG Limited Art Edition is supported by a generous grant from the Marta Heflin Foundation.
TAG’s 2019 Research in Action Awards will take place on Thursday, November 14, 2019, at Town Stages, 221 West Broadway, in Manhattan. The exhibition copy of Black Rage (back cover) will be displayed at the event. The 2019 Research in Action Awards will honor director/author David France, playwright Matthew Lopez, activist Amanda Lugg, and Mt. Sinai adolescent health physician Dr. Jack Steever.
For more information please call TAG administrator Joe McConnell at +1-212-253-7922 or email tag@treatmentactiongroup.org.
Information about the TAG Limited Art Editions, including past artists and their works for TAG can be found on this page.
Treatment Action Group (TAG) is an independent, activist and community-based research and policy think tank fighting for better treatment, prevention, a vaccine, and a cure for HIV, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C virus. Founded in 1992 and based in New York City, TAG works to ensure that all people with HIV, TB, or HCV receive lifesaving treatment, care, and information. We are science-based treatment activists working to expand and accelerate vital research and effective community engagement with research and policy institutions. TAG catalyzes open collective action by all affected communities, scientists, and policy makers to end HIV, TB, and HCV.
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