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Aliza Nisenbaum’s paintings capture tender moments between the artist and the sitter. In vibrant colors and bold lines, moments of contemplation, leisure, care, and communal gathering are depicted in intimate settings where the subjects’ personalities are uniquely represented. Painting from life, her group and individual portraits have historicized Britain’s frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, actors and backstage staff at the Metropolitan Opera, and undocumented immigrants she met working as an educator at the Queens-based grassroots organization, Immigrant Movement International. In June 2026, Nisenbaum’s commissioned mural Reading Circles/ Weaving Dreams/ Seeding Futures will be on view in the Chicago Library Branch at the Obama Presidential Center.

ACCESS INFORMATION: This program is free and CART captioning will be available. For questions and access accommodations, email gallery400engagement@gmail.com.

ABOUT

Aliza Nisenbaum was born in 1977 in Mexico City, Mexico, and lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. The subjects of her recent work are often undocumented immigrants, portrayed in bold colors against patterned interiors and private spaces. For Nisenbaum, the process of painting portraits from observation is a political act, one that sets up an ethical encounter in which both participants give their attention and trust and learn about one another. The portraits offer a personal view of immigrants, some of society’s least-visible members. Nisenbaum has had solo exhibitions at White Columns and the Minneapolis Institute of Art and has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including at the Flag Art Foundation, the Norwich Castle Museum, and the 2017 Whitney Biennial. She is currently a professor at Columbia University’s School of Visual Arts.