"This book originates from a major group exhibition curated by Glenn Ligon, one of the most influential American artists of his generation. It features forty-five artists who he refers to in his art and in his writings, or who have been of significance to him more generally, including willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Adrian Piper, David Hammons, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Lorna Simpson, Steve McQueen and Zoe Leonard. Literature is a frequent stimulus for Ligon's art, and this publication also features an anthology of fifteen literary and critical texts he has selected, by, for example, Marcel Proust, Adrienne Kennedy, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, HIlto Als and Fred Moten. There are also new writings by Ligon himself, Gregg Bordowitz, Alex Farquharson and Francesco Manacorda. A personal art history of sorts, sets in a wider cultural and historical context, this project offers a wealth of new insights in to the background that informs Ligon's practice."--Page [4] of cover.