Untitled (Greenheads)

This work is part of Laylah Ali’s renowned Greenheads series, in which the artist collides her comic-book aesthetic with psychological and inherently violent narratives. The Greenheads figures are dressed in costumes inspired by superheroes featuring distinctive power belts, tight sport gear, and Ku Klux Klan or religious clergies’ outfits. Small, minimal, and meticulously detailed, these paintings offer a commentary on the conflicting power struggles that are at the root of many civil rights issues related to racial and gender inequality. Ali’s graphic short hand is similar in style to Persian miniatures and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs from which viewers decipher complex sociopolitical meanings in their simple yet ambiguous scenes.