Aliza Nisenbaum

Aliza Nisenbaum’s portraits capture the history and community behind the Art Center’s annual Día de los Muertos celebration, celebrating 25 years in 2025.

Aliza Nisenbaum is known for her vibrantly colored, large-scale portraits. She describes her paintings as a “montage of points in time.” Rather than depicting a specific moment, they capture the essence of the community she paints. The artist forms relationships with her subjects, chatting, sketching, and taking photographs before depicting them on canvas.

Her works are filled with references to the lives of her sitters and incorporate objects of special significance to those she represents. These intimate images capture the personalities of her subjects and the relationships between them. Last fall, the Art Center invited Nisenbaum to meet with pivotal members of the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) committee, learn about the event’s history, and photograph the 2024 celebration, as part of her two-year term as the Tim and Toni Urban International Artist-in-Residence.  

A yearly event at the Art Center, Día de los Muertos is a Latin American festival that honors the lives of departed loved ones, celebrated with food, music, and offerings to the deceased. At its heart, Día de los Muertos is a celebration of community — a space where we come together through art, culture, and shared traditions. Inspired by her visits to the Des Moines Art Center, Nisenbaum created six paintings to commemorate the 25-year history of the Día de los Muertos celebration at the museum.

Aliza Nisenbaum (Mexican and American, lives and works in New York, NY, born 1977)
Mantilla, 2025
Oil on canvas
Courtesy of the artist, Anton Kern Gallery, and Regen Projects