Published by Williams College Museum of Art. Edited by Deborah Rothschild. Introduction by Katy Kline. Text by Julia Bryan-Wilson, Kevin Young. Interview by Deborah Rothschild.
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.
PUBLISHER Williams College Museum of Art
BOOK FORMAT Flexi, 9.25 x 11 in. / 128 pgs / 100 color.
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 11/30/2012 Active
DISTRIBUTION D.A.P. Exclusive Catalog: FALL 2012 p. 116
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9780913697306TRADE List Price: $24.99 CDN $34.50 GBP £22.00
AVAILABILITY Out of stock
STATUS: Out of stock
Temporarily out of stock pending additional inventory.
Published by DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park. Text by Dina Deitsch, Kevin Young.
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.
PUBLISHER DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park
BOOK FORMAT Paperback, 8 x 10 in. / 64 pgs / 27 color / 12 bw.
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 2/1/2009 Out of stock indefinitely
DISTRIBUTION D.A.P. Exclusive Catalog: SPRING 2009 p. 91
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9780945506591TRADE List Price: $19.99 CDN $27.95 GBP £17.50
Published by Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Text by Alex Baker. Interview by Kara Walker.
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.
PUBLISHER Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
BOOK FORMAT paperback, 8 x 10.5 in. / 48 pgs / 12 color / 24 bw.
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 11/15/2007 Out of print
DISTRIBUTION D.A.P. Exclusive Catalog: FALL 2007 p. 130
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9780943836300TRADE List Price: $20.00 CDN $25.00
Published by Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Artwork by Laylah Ali.
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.
Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Artwork by Laylah Ali.
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.
Published by ICA Boston. Essay by Suzanne Wise. Introduction by Jessica Morgan.
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.
PUBLISHER ICA Boston
BOOK FORMAT Paperback, 8 x 8.25 in. / 36 pgs / 22 color
PUBLISHING STATUS Pub Date 1/2/2002 No longer our product
DISTRIBUTION D.A.P. Exclusive Catalog: SPRING 2002
PRODUCT DETAILS ISBN 9780910663625TRADE List Price: $10.95 CDN $15.00
Laylah Ali: Note Drawings
Laylah Ali: Typology
Laylah Ali: Types
Laylah Ali
Laylah Ali