Al Alexander

  • Al  Alexander
© Al Alexander
Painter
Principal country concerned : Column : Fine arts

Al was born in Quarry Village, Siparia in March, 1978. His mother Lydia Waldrop, showed particular interest in his artistic interests supporting him by treating everything he drew as a great work of art. Lydia would also feed Al with numerous Question and Answers books supplement, to his questioning nature. His desire for the right answers to even seemingly simple questions is what Al believes lead to what he sees as his failure in secondary school. With his first attempt at Tertiary education, Al came to the realization that the secondary school Art Syllabus was not designed to teach real principles in Art but a misguided attempt to secure passes in the CXC examinations.In 1994 Al received a silver medal from the Shankar's International Children's Art competition. At 'A' Levels he dabbled in every area of Art finally settling on Graphic Design with intentions to further his studies in the field. He entered the Graphic Design Technician programme at John S. Donaldson in 1997 but left prematurely in 1998.
In 1999 after a meeting with longtime friend and artist Ronald Jacob, Al was convinced to do more with his talent than paint T-Shirts. In February 2000 Ronald and Al acquired a space on Mary Street, Siparia where they prepared for their upcoming Exhibition Portrait of a Country. After the exhibition they kept the space where they gave Art classes and spent almost every day for the next couple years painting, honing their craft.  
Al's work has been influenced by Hilma Smith Barnes, Ronald Smith and the late Boscoe Holder, (as they all gave him advice on improving his techniques) Carlyle Chang and James Boodhoo He has exhibited at the Art Society's year end show in 2006 and 2007, Trinfinity Arts, Art and Poetry shows in 2006 and a production put on by Nisha Hosein of Soft Box Art Gallery in December 2008. In august 2010, he exhibited again in a group show at The Art Societies gallery in St. James.

Partners

  • Arterial network
  • Media, Sports and Entertainment Group (MSE)
  • Gens de la Caraïbe
  • Groupe 30 Afrique
  • Alliance Française VANUATU
  • PACIFIC ARTS ALLIANCE
  • FURTHER ARTS
  • Zimbabwe : Culture Fund Of Zimbabwe Trust
  • RDC : Groupe TACCEMS
  • Rwanda : Positive Production
  • Togo : Kadam Kadam
  • Niger : ONG Culture Art Humanité
  • Collectif 2004 Images
  • Africultures Burkina-Faso
  • Bénincultures / Editions Plurielles
  • Africiné
  • Afrilivres

With the support of