There’s Layla Ali the knockout artist and there’s Laylah Ali, the knockout fine art artist. The latter Ali is alumnae of Washington University and 2004 honoree of the prestigious Whitney Biennial Awards.
She will be in St. Louis for an opening reception for her exhibit Laylah Ali: Paintings and Drawings, at 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 3 a the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, 3750 Washington Blvd. The exhibit runs through February 27.
Ali’s cartoon-like paintings describe a dark spectrum of human behaviors and relationships in a clear, engaging style.
The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis is also producing a book with Ali entitled Types to accompany the exhibition.
Coincidentally, the artist and exhibit curator are Wash. U. alumni.
Ali will share the venue with artist Yoshitomo Nara, who is exhibiting Yoshitomo Nara: Nothing Ever Happens, Nara enjoys cult status in his native Japan and his works are among the most recognizable contemporary art image.
Ali’s selected solo exhibitions include the Albright-Knox Gallery of Buffalo, NY, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston to name a few. She has also been featured around the world among select group exhibitions such as The Ten Commandments, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany, Me & More, Kunstmuseum Lucrene, Lucrene, Switzerland and Fault Lines: Contemporary Art and Shifting Landscapes, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy.
Ali will share the venue with artist Yoshitomo Nara, who is presenting Yoshitomo Nara: Nothing Ever happens. Nara enjoys cult status in his native Japan and his works are among the most recognizable contemporary art images in the world today.
Born in 1968 in Buffalo, New York, Ali currently lives and works in Williamstown, MA. After completing a MFA degree at Wash. U., she attended the Whitney of American Art’s Independent Study Program in New York and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, ME.
For more information about the exhibit, contact the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis at 533-0446.
