Glenn Ligon on Meeting His Most Famous Fan, President Obama

American artist Glenn Ligon, who is currently showing at London’s Thomas Dane Gallery, shared with the Independent his surprise encounter with President Obama during a fundraiser for the second election campaign. According to Ligon, the President has one of his paintings, Black Like Me #2, hanging at the White House. Obama also mentioned noticing when a set of the artist’s prints had to be taken down to protect them against the light. He said they were missed.

Ligon told Hannah Duguid:

“I thought to myself, ‘the President of the United States knows what’s in his house[…]It’s not just decoration. He looks at it and knows when it’s not there. It was touching to realize that visual art is an integral part of his and his family’s life. It’s not just window dressing, not something you have to talk about because people expect you to. It was a really great way to meet him.”

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