Laylah Ali: Paintings on Paper
Nov 8, 2001 - Jan 28, 2002
Prints & Drawings Gallery
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Paintings on Paper, an exhibit of small-scale works (1996-1999) by provocative Boston-based artist Laylah Ali, opened Thursday, November 9 and was on view in MASS MoCA's Michael & Agnese Meehan and Works on Paper Galleries through January 28, 2001. Ali's comic book-like figures, genderless with bulbous green heads and a variety of pared down uniforms, are depicted in the midst of mysterious unfolding dramas. At first glance her Greenheads are colorful and inviting like illustrations from a comic strip or children's book. Upon closer examination though, the disturbing narratives become clear. This African-American artist, born in 1968, has created surreal figures that seem to have undergone numerous cultural and racial permutations. Ali's enigmatic narratives, with so many details left unsaid, are each easily applied to any number of historical time periods worldwide. From Nazi Germany to the Salem witch trials to domestic and school violence, Ali's cartoonish figures offer not just an oddly timeless picture of history, but also a mirror of the present and a foreboding vision of the future.
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