Aliza Nisenbaum

With her refined sense of political and social contexts, the contemporary painter Aliza Nisenbaum focuses on her colorful portraits of socially and politically underrepresented groups. For example, she portrayed undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America, whom she first met while teaching English. Her approach comprises very personal explorations of the people she portrays; she visits them at home, meets their families, and cooks for them. This close relationship—the collaboration between painter and model—results in paintings whose unusual intimacy and expressive power are captivating. The first monograph about this promising artist now provides a comprehensive overview of her work from the most recent decade.

Aliza Nisenbaum (*1977, Mexico City) studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2017 she took part in the Whitney Biennial and showed her work at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. She lives in New York City.