Anna Zorina Gallery is pleased to present It Goes to Show, Alvin Armstrong’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. The show features the artist’s latest series of paintings that depict a dear friend, Miles, in candid poses of dance performance. Together they use their chosen media to convey a viscerally powerful, intimate narrative.
The painting medium sets the stage for Armstrong and Miles to join in the flow of storytelling, both become immersed in conveying raw, emotional depth through a rich vocabulary of body movement and shape. They both engage their media with dramatic, fluid and intuitive gestures. Armstrong immediate approach with dripping paint, and transparent layers of brushstrokes insinuate the quickly shifting flexes of muscle within the dynamic poses. The loose brushwork and transparent layers of color are offset by Miles’ definitive intention and deep concentration, the reiteration of his figure emphasizes the intensity of the dancer’s focus and drive. The tight focus on the figure within the confined space of the composition magnifies the tension of vulnerability and honesty. In the titular painting, “It Goes To Show” the subject makes direct eye contact. Armstrong casts Miles with one eye powerfully gazing back at the viewer, his dance provides a shield protecting the intimacy of his art.
ALVIN ARMSTRONG was born in San Diego, CA. Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Armstrong received an MS in Eastern Medicine and is a licensed acupuncturist. The self-taught artist had his New York solo debut exhibition This Place Looks Different with Medium Tings in Fall 2020. His first Chelsea solo exhibition To Give and Take was presented at Anna Zorina Gallery in May 2021, curated by Stephanie Baptiste. He was included in the Let Freedom Ring installation curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah at Brooklyn Academy of Music in January 2021. Armstrong’s work has been featured in the New York Times, reviewed in Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, Juxtapose Magazine, Something Curated, Artsy and Epiphany Magazine. He is currently a Visual Arts Resident at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn.
For further information, please contact Marie Nyquist at 212-243-2100
or via email at marie@annazorinagallery.com.