Laylah Ali
Born 1968, Buffalo, NY, lives and works in Williamstown, MA
Untitled (Red Figure with Hat), 2002, gouache and colored pencil on paper, Museum Purchase with funds provided by James and Audrey Foster, 2003.7
Laylah Ali's work relies on tensions between clarity and ambiguity to convey disquieting content about individuality, group dynamics, and power relations. At first her images seem forthright and direct, using the familiar graphic language of comic books and illustrations. But their deceiving simplicity gives way to a world fraught with visual ambivalence and aggression.
In Untitled, from the "Greenhead Series," Ali's signature cartoon-like figures wear mysterious masks as their bodies and facial expressions belie an ongoing drama. And yet, exactly what this drama is remains unclear. Untitled (Red Figure with Hat) has an equally enigmatic and violent mood set by a disparate combination of limbs on an enormous hat and a disembodied head on the ground. Ali's non-linear stories operate on a general metaphoric level to reveal the complexities and confusions inherent in living in contemporary society. Untitled, from “The Greenheads Series” was purchased from The 1999 DeCordova Annual Exhibition.
