A Few of My Favorites

Description

Parallel to his incessant practice of painting portraits of Black icons, Armando Alleyne allows elements of his lived experience to take form in his work. Series such as Shelter Blues animate his first-hand experiences of homelessness. Another series, Maria's Song calls on a pantheon of religious symbolism to pay homage to the sister he lost to AIDS. Included are erotic paintings which the artist based on magazine ads and models he staged. Never shying away from the seminal, the sensual or the political, Alleyne's lifetime of paintings tell a story of how we are subject to our city and how in it we can search for the tools to heal.