A few years ago, I painted a group of women in a Minneapolis community education garden. It was really interesting to paint them in this space that was all about food justice, and that started me thinking about the way Europeans have allotments [community gardens], so I was going to paint people on their allotments in Liverpool.

The pandemic started me thinking about making paintings of keyworkers and first responders, to humanize them and put a face to the people who have been working so hard during this crisis. It has really changed our sense of what is an essential worker. Sometimes they’re deemed low-skilled workers—such as people who work in supermarkets—but they have proved crucial to our survival. — Aliza Nisenbaum

Columbia University School of the Arts presents COMPLEX ISSUES—PAINTING THE NHS, a conversation with Nisenbaum and Tom Kalin on the painter’s new series at Tate Liverpool that “captures the stories of British frontline NHS (National Health Service) workers and highlights the impact that Covid-19 has had on their jobs and home lives.”*

COMPLEX ISSUES—PAINTING THE NHS*

ALIZA NISENBAUM and TOM KALIN IN CONVERSATION

Columbia University School of the Arts

Tuesday, February 2.

3:30 pm on the West Coast; 6:30 pm East Coast.

Aliza Nisenbaum, from top: Tumbao de Omambo, 2020, oil on canvas; Naveena, Student Nurse and Succulents, 2020, photograph by Jeff McLane; Team Time Storytelling, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Emergency Department, Covid Pandemic, 2020, photograph by McLane; Ryan, Respiratory Doctor in Training, 2020, photograph by McLane; Nimo, Sumiya, and Bisharo harvesting flowers and vegetables at Hope Community Garden, 2017, image courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Art; Jenna, Friday Night in Brooklyn, 2019, oil on canvas. Images © Aliza Nisenbaum, courtesy of the artist and Anton Kern Gallery, New York.