Andres Alvarez

My inclination for making art has been present since my early childhood in the Dominican Republic. Every period in my life so far has been shaped by my relationship with art—primarily drawing at first, but eventually expanding into other mediums. It wasn’t until around 2013 that I reached a turning point in my life, when I began a path of personal growth that included a commitment to dedicate more of my time to developing my technical ability as a painter. I essentially set myself on a journey to close the gap between how I visualized a creative idea and the physical manifestation of those ideas.

My work is inevitably influenced, whether consciously or unconsciously, by a 20+ year career in the field of graphic design. The time I spent constantly playing with color and visual compositions developed in me the ability to find comfort in experimentation. My creative toolbox also includes over five years of experience as a professional mural painter in the advertising industry. This relatively new profession has also influenced my studio practice by allowing me to discover a new relationship to larger-scale subjects, exploration of textures, and even color palettes that I had not previously experimented with on a canvas.

The flame of...

My art education has been as informal and self-guided as it gets, so I’ll simply list some of the books that have truly helped me push my craft and understanding of art-making to new and deeper places.

Color and Light by James GurneyThe Artist’s Way by Julia CameronThe Art Spirit by Robert HenriThe Mission of Art by Alex Grey

2019
Group show - “Session” Works on paper - Mustard Hotel - Tokyo, Japan
Group show - Fusion Intl. - Hatori Onsen - Kaga, Japan
Restaurant showcase - Chocolat (1 month) - Harlem, NY
Coffee shop showcase - Harlem Coffee Co. (1 week) - Harlem, NY

2018
Pop up show - “Cocoa Butter Night” - Harlem, NY

2016
Group show - “Serendipia” - Rabbithole Gallery - Brooklyn, NY
Pop up show - Annual Drawing Salon - Greenpoint Gallery - Brooklyn, NY
Pop up show - “We Dream in Color” - Harlem, NY