Armando Alleyne: A Few of My Favorites

“I don’t only focus on jazz musicians. I also paint my family or iconic personalities such as Félix Trinidad, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Amadou Diallo and The Notorious B.I.G. who in one rendition is carrying the cross with Etta James as an angel. In a painting collage of Biggie, I placed a Tropicana Juice packaging where a handkerchief would be. With the jazz musicians I’d do the same; I collage cereal and cracker boxes to the subject matter. This reflects my belief that music is fortifying.” (Armando Alleyne) A Few of My Favorites is the first book of collected works by New York artist, Armando Alleyne. His painted and collaged renditions of jazz musicians, Afro-Latin singers, boxers, but also family members and acquaintances have a rhythm all-their-own. Parallel to his incessant practice of painting portraits of Black icons, 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