Skip navigation

Main menu

  • What's on
  • Art & Artists
    • The Collection
      Artists
      Artworks
      Art by theme
      Media
      Videos
      Podcasts
      Short articles
      Learning
      Schools
      Art Terms
      Tate Research
      Art Making
      Create like an artist
      Kids art activities
      Tate Draw game
  • Visit
  • Shop
Become a Member
  • DISCOVER ART
  • ARTISTS A-Z
  • ARTWORK SEARCH
  • ART BY THEME
  • VIDEOS
  • ART TERMS
  • SCHOOLS
  • TATE KIDS
  • RESEARCH
  • Tate Britain
    Tate Britain Free admission
  • Tate Modern
    Tate Modern Free admission
  • Tate Liverpool + RIBA North
    Tate Liverpool + RIBA North Free admission
  • Tate St Ives
    Tate St Ives Ticket or membership card required
  • FAMILIES
  • ACCESSIBILITY
  • SCHOOLS
  • PRIVATE TOURS
Tate Logo
Become a Member
Tate Liverpool + RIBA North Exhibition

Aliza Nisenbaum

15 December 2020 – 5 September 2021
Aliza Nisenbaum painting

Aliza Nisenbaum Team Time Storytelling, Alder Hey Children's Hospital Emergency Department, Covid Pandemic 2020 © Aliza Nisenbaum. Photography by Jeff McLane, courtesy the artist and Anton Kern Gallery, New York

  • At Tate Liverpool
  • Find out more
  • Shop

Merseyside’s NHS key workers celebrated in new paintings by Aliza Nisenbaum

Aliza Nisenbaum (b.1977, Mexico) is a New York based painter best known for her bright, large-scale portraits of community groups. Inspired by the dedication of Liverpool's key workers, the artist has created a series of new paintings of NHS staff from Merseyside who have worked tirelessly for their community during the pandemic.

The exhibition captures the stories of frontline NHS workers and highlights the impact that Covid-19 has had on their jobs and home lives. Sitters include a professor of Outbreak Medicine, a respiratory doctor who became a father during the first wave, and a student nurse who comes from a family of nurses who all chose to return to frontline work.

Throughout August, Nisenbaum got to know the selected NHS staff, talking to them via video link from her studio in the US. She uses these conversations to include elements of their personality and interests within her paintings. They are shown alongside things that have given them support and hope through this difficult time, such as pets or musical instruments.

Visitors to our gallery will be able to see the two new large-scale group portraits and eleven individual portraits. The paintings will sit alongside three films, one of which documents the creation of the new work for Liverpool as well as paintings created over the last five years, including London Underground: Brixton Station and Victoria Line 2019, the artist’s largest composition to date.

Supported by The Tate Liverpool Commissioning Circle, the Embassy of Mexico in the United Kingdom and the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation

Aliza Nisenbaum Ryan

Aliza Nisenbaum Ryan, Respiratory Doctor in Training 2020 © Aliza Nisenbaum. Photography by Jeff McLane, courtesy the artist and Anton Kern Gallery, New York

Aliza Nisenbaum Naveena

Aliza Nisenbaum Naveena, Student Nurse 2020 © Aliza Nisenbaum. Photography by Jeff McLane, courtesy the artist and Anton Kern Gallery, New York

Aliza Nisenbaum painting

Aliza Nisenbaum in her studio. Photography by Ryan C. Spencer, courtesy the artist and Anton Kern Gallery, New York

Aliza Nisenbaum in her studio

Aliza Nisenbaum in her studio. Photography by Ryan C. Spencer, courtesy the artist and Anton Kern Gallery, New York

Aliza Nisenbaum, London Underground: Brixton Station and Victoria Line Staff

Aliza Nisenbaum, London Underground: Brixton Station and Victoria Line Staff 2018-19. Courtesy the artist and Art on the Underground, London; Mary Mary, Glasgow; Anton Kern Gallery, New York / © Aliza Nisenbaum

Aliza Nisenbaum Nimo, Sumiya, and Bisharo harvesting flowers and vegetables at Hope Community Garden

Aliza Nisenbaum Nimo, Sumiya, and Bisharo harvesting flowers and vegetables at Hope Community Garden 2017. Courtesy the artist and Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Anton Kern Gallery, New York/© Aliza Nisenbaum

Tate Liverpool + RIBA North

Mann Island
Liverpool L3 1BP
Plan your visit

Dates

15 December 2020 – 5 September 2021

  • Advance booking is recommended ​

  • All visitors, including Members need to book a ticket​

Supported by

The Tate Liverpool Commissioning Circle

Jo and Tom Bloxham MBE
Roisin and James Timpson OBE

The Embassy of Mexico in the United Kingdom and the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation

  • Read the exhibition guide

    Find out more
  • Stay in the know

    Be among the first to hear about all the latest Tate exhibitions, events, courses, and news

    Sign up to emails

At Tate Liverpool

  • Jenny Holzer
    collection_route PAST EVENT

    Tate Liverpool Free Collection Displays

    Explore incredible art from Tate's collection

    Tate Liverpool + RIBA North
    15 Nov 2020 – 4 Jul 2023

Find out more

  • Aliza Nisenbaum London Underground: Brixton Station and Victoria Line Staff 2018-19 © Aliza Nisenbaum. Courtesy the artist and Art on the Underground, London; Mary Mary, Glasgow; Anton Kern Gallery, New York

    Five Ways Aliza Nisenbaum Approaches Portraiture


    From paintings of train drivers to National Health Service workers, explore this artist’s style of portraiture

  • Aliza Nisenbaum sitting in her studio

    Aliza Nisenbaum

    Meet the artist known for her colourful portraits

  • 16–25? Join Tate Collective for £5 tickets

    Find out more

Shop

Artwork
Close

Join in

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
Sign up to emails

Sign up to emails

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tate’s privacy policy

About

  • About us
  • Our collection
  • Terms and copyright
  • Governance
  • Picture library
  • ARTIST ROOMS
  • Tate Kids

Support

  • Tate Collective
  • Members
  • Patrons
  • Donate
  • Corporate
  • My account
  • Press
  • Jobs
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Contact
© The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery, 2025
All rights reserved