Artists

Alvin Armstrong is a self-taught painter whose dynamic, figurative works explore the social and political landscapes of Black American culture. With kinetic mark-making and bold color, his paintings honor the resilience, beauty, and complexity of Black life while rejecting narratives confined solely to trauma. Drawing from archival materials, community, and his own lived experience, Armstrong frames subjects in motion to subvert traditional depictions and foreground dignity and vitality.

Armstrong earned an MS in Eastern Medicine and practiced as a licensed acupuncturist before turning to painting full time. His New York solo debut, This Place Looks Different (Medium Tings, 2020), was followed by To Give and Take (Anna Zorina Gallery, 2021). He has participated in exhibitions at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Everson Museum of Art, the Flag Art Foundation, and Kunstmuseum Schloss Derneburg, among others. He was named to The Artsy Vanguard 2021 and held a Visual Arts Residency at Pioneer Works (Brooklyn, 2022).

His work has been featured in the New York Times, Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, Artsy, and Beaux Arts Magazine, which featured his paintings on the cover of its 2024 Olympics issue.