Featuring artwork made between 1993 and 2020, this exhibition is the most comprehensive survey of drawings by Laylah Ali (b. 1968, Buffalo, New York), an artist celebrated for her works on paper.

Using a range of materials, Ali engages with historical and contemporary sources to confront enduring themes of power, identity, and the human condition. Though the drawings range in format and technique, they are united in their bold graphic style, serial narrative structure, and inventive, character-driven approach to visual storytelling. Ali’s enigmatic figures inhabit a fraught world where sociopolitical distinctions often collapse or morph into questions rather than statements. The artist’s infusion of humorous or emotionally charged elements, along with whimsical color schemes and handwritten inscriptions, reminds us that clarity is often a myth and that ambiguity, when examined closely, may reveal hard truths about who we are and how we see others.

Rather than deliver a fixed meaning, Ali’s drawings encourage repeated contemplation. The title question—Is anything the matter?—is deliberately open-ended, urging us to consider our own relationship to the personal, social, and political dramas depicted.

Is anything the matter? Drawings by Laylah Ali was previously on view at SUNY Fredonia’s Cathy and Jesse Marion Art Gallery and the University Museum of Contemporary Art at UMass Amherst.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue. The book is the most extensive publication to date documenting Laylah Ali’s drawing practice. It features more than 140 illustrations, an introduction by Barbara Räcker, an in-depth reflection by art historian Karen Kurcynzski, a lyric essay by poet Arisa White (Associate Professor of English and Director, Creative Writing, Colby College), and an interview with the artist by art historian Romi Crawford.

Is anything the matter? Drawings by Laylah Ali

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Selected Works

Laylah Ali

Laylah Ali

Laylah Ali

Laylah Ali

Laylah Ali

Laylah Ali