Alvin Armstrong’s (b. 1982, San Diego, CA) dynamic artworks imply action through their kinetic mark making and expert use of color. Concerned primarily with complications of race in modern America, the artist explores the social and political landscapes of Black culture in a decidedly figurative context. Armstrong carefully frames subjects in motion to subvert traditional narratives and power structures that have erased, misrepresented, and undervalued Black identities throughout American history.

Punctuated by his father’s Naval deployments in Japan and Hawaii, Armstrong’s ambulatory childhood emphasized the many facets of his multiracial identity. This intersectionality informed an artistic practice rooted in visual research— one that consistently culls subject matter from archival material, local communities, and the artist’s lived experience.