John Alleyne is an interdisciplinary artist from the island of Barbados, currently based in New Orleans, LA.
His work is rooted in an exploration of “freedom,” connecting his lived experience with an intuitive process of painting and silkscreen mark-making. In his practice, the untraditional use of unhinged silkscreens are utilized as mark-making tools to create painterly gestures of figurative abstraction. These marks reflect the complexities of Black life as they are perfectly imperfect. Through the exploration of Black nostalgic images which already exist in the world, Alleyne re-imagines hauntingly new depictions that long for and reflect love, care, and a sanctuary for Black and Brown bodies. Alleyne graduated from SUNY Potsdam with a BFA in studio art and a concentration in digital design. He also has an MFA in studio art from Louisiana State University, with a concentration in painting and drawing. He has been Artist-in-Residence at Ox-Bow, ACRE, and Anderson Ranch Arts Center. He has exhibited work throughout various galleries and museums in the South, including Sulfur Studios in Savannah, Georgia, Baton Rouge Gallery, The Masur Museum, The LSU Museum in Baton Rouge, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and The Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. He has also exhibited work in New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Ireland, and Barbados. His work is featured in New American Paintings (South Issue), Southern Cultures, The Chicago Reader, The Shepherd Express, Studio Visit Magazine, 225 Magazine, Savannah Now, and Issue #23 of The Hand Magazine.
Alleyne is a member of Antenna Artist Collective in New Orleans. He is an Assistant Professor of Art at Southern University and A & M College in Baton Rouge. During the summer months, Alleyne also teaches experimental silkscreen techniques at Anderson Ranch Arts Center.
