Laylah Ali: Typology

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.

Baker, Alex