Laylah Ali*

Lot #7
Untitled from mask studies, 2020
Water-soluble wax pastels and ink on index card
6 x 4 in. 
Courtesy of the artist

About the Artwork

Laylah Ali (Headlands Artist in Residence ‘00) works primarily on paintings and drawings, and is known for her meticulous figurative gouache works that challenge fixed racial and gender narratives. Ali has described her work as dealing “with the amalgam of race, power, gendering, ambition, human frailty, murky politics, and the other complex combinations that we so often treat as separate entities.” Her brightly colored scenes often depict dark subject matter; Ali builds upon this tension by equipping her gender-ambiguous figures with everyday attributes as well as culturally loaded objects, such as hoods, nooses, and masks. In Ali’s mask studies series, her figures don the masks of this moment, communicating their potent anxieties with a glance. Ali’s works are included in the permanent collections of many public institutions and she has been the recipient of numerous honors, including the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant, United States Artists Fellowship, William H. Johnson Prize, and Institute of Contemporary Art Boston Artist Prize. Her work and process were highlighted in Season 3 of the acclaimed PBS series Art21.

Retail Value: $4,800