Laylah Ali

ACTIVE BACKLIST

LAYLAH ALI: THE GREENHEADS SERIES
WILLIAMS COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART
ISBN: 9780913697306 | US $24.99
Pub Date: 11/30/2012
Active | In stock

LAYLAH ALI: NOTE DRAWINGS
Text by Dina Deitsch, Kevin Young.
DECORDOVA MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE PARK
ISBN: 9780945506591 | US $19.99
Pub Date: 2/1/2009
Active | In stock

LAYLAH ALI: TYPOLOGY
Text by Alex Baker. Interview by Kara Walker.
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS
ISBN: 9780943836300 | US $20.00
Pub Date: 11/15/2007
Active | Awaiting stock

LAYLAH ALI: TYPES
Artwork by Laylah Ali.
CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM ST. LOUIS
ISBN: 9780971219564 | US $10.00
Pub Date: 1/15/2005
Active | In stock

LAYLAH ALI
Artwork by Laylah Ali.
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK
ISBN: 9780870703829 | US $7.50
Pub Date: 8/2/2002
Active | Awaiting stock

OUT OF PRINT LISTING

LAYLAH ALI
Essay by Suzanne Wise. Introduction by Jessica Morgan.
ICA BOSTON
ISBN: 9780910663625 | US $10.95
Pub Date: 1/2/2002
Out of print | Not available

Laylah Ali

Laylah Ali: The Greenheads Series

Edited by Deborah Rothschild. Introduction by Katy Kline. Text by Julia Bryan-Wilson, Kevin Young. Interview by Deborah Rothschild.
Published by Williams College Museum of Art

This book is the first complete documentation of the Greenheads series by Laylah Ali (born 1968), created between 1996 and 2005. Consisting of over 80 works, Ali’s exquisitely rendered gouache-on-paper paintings chronicle the dystopian world of her enigmatic green-headed figures. This provocative imagery is open-ended, darkly humorous and triggers a range of associations through their references to the media, historical events and racial and gender tropes. The catalogue allows viewers to examine the evolution of the critically acclaimed series, from the early paintings, which focus on charged exchanges between groups of figures, to the later works, where the events and figures are radically and starkly pared down. The Greenheads Series includes texts by art historian and critic Julia Bryan-Wilson and poet Kevin Young, as well as an interview with the artist by curator Deborah Rothschild.

Laylah Ali: Note Drawings

Text by Dina Deitsch, Kevin Young.
Published by DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park

For the past decade, Laylah Ali has been interrogating the visual language of contemporary society through paintings and drawings inhabited by her subversive characters. The Note drawings presented in this catalogue reference Ali's earlier work, yet mark a departure to some degree. While language has always been at the heart of Ali's practice--in its limitations and misinterpretations--she has, in this series of drawings, incorporated actual text into her work. Where her figures were once ambiguous in gender and race, and even questionably human, they now have identifiable attributes of racial and sexual identity portrayed vividly by characters dressed in masks, wigs and a variety of headdresses and costumes. Handwritten directly under and over her figures are random thoughts, snatches of overheard conversation and odd sound bites that question conventional visual markers and allude to racial and political struggles.

Laylah Ali: Typology

Text by Alex Baker. Interview by Kara Walker.
Published by Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

While Laylah Ali's early work examined the moral and physical violence within and between groups, she has recently turned her attention toward the myriad ways identity is manifested--whether by clothing, hairstyle, body type, skin color or other physical attributes or abilities. This 48-page paperback is the first publication to examine these new ink drawings, known as the Typology Series, which are much more highly detailed than her signature gouache paintings, the Greenheads. Whimsical and even humorous at times, on closer inspection, Ali's work offers disturbing insight into power struggles, racial subjugation, oppression and political abuse. She references questions of race, class, gender and power, and yet asks us to finish the stories she has started with information we bring to the work--including our own political beliefs, cultural biases and family histories. With an interview by artist Kara Walker and an essay by curator Alex Baker.

Laylah Ali: Types

Artwork by Laylah Ali.
Published by Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis

Known for her cartoon-like characters engaged in ambiguous activities, Laylah Ali's paintings and drawings imply narratives that address a wide variety of political, cultural, and social concerns. Her carefully-created images are deceptive with their buoyant color, yet at the same time delve into some of the more disturbing impulses revealed in the workings of individuals and groups. Often creating characters that represent the many facets of social and racial identity, this special artist book, Types, includes new drawings that are representative of the different “types” of characters Ali creates. Keeping with the intimate scale of her works, this 36-page book includes 14 new black and white color drawings. Each image is juxtaposed next to a solid block of color in order to heighten the intricate details of these new depictions.

Laylah Ali

Artwork by Laylah Ali.
Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Laylah Ali's gouache-and-ink drawings previously only implied violence, but here her interrupted narratives and pared-down,comic-book aesthetic present a perilous world where a wounded civilization and psychology meet. Psychopolitical situations are frozen in individual frames, populated by figures dressed in costumes derived from superheroes and prison guards, their limbs hacked off, their faces mangled, their bodies bandaged and their necks hung by nooses at the end of page-long ropes. Also taking up issues of gender and race, these drawings offer only the most uncomfortable conclusions.

Laylah Ali

Essay by Suzanne Wise. Introduction by Jessica Morgan.
Published by ICA Boston

The implicit violence, frozen narratives, and pared-down, comic-book aesthetic of Layla Ali's gouache-and-ink drawings present an ambiguous place where civilization and psychology meet. Psycho-political situations are suggested, but rarely acted out, by figures dressed in costumes derived from superhero wear and sports gear, garb reminiscent of outfits worn by the KKK, the Pope, and Coptic priests. Who are they? What are they doing? Their gender neutralized by unisex costumes, their race neutralized by green-colored skin, Ali has created a tight, contained, strangely compelling hand-drawn world in which questions are unanswerable, narratives refuse to go forward, and yet everything is eerily perfect.