Alfred J White is a multidisciplinary artist — painter, director/writer, fashion stylist, and actor. A native Californian, he was born in Berkeley, raised in Oakland, and came of age in Los Angeles.
Largely self-taught, Alfred studied painting under the tutelage of figurative and abstract painter Michael Dee Cookingham. He was a commissioned artist for the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation’s annual fundraiser, Heroes and Hearts, in 2010 and 2017. His work has been exhibited at: Joyce Gordon Gallery, ArtReach – UC in the Valley, University of California Office of the President (UCOP), and the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation’s Heroes and Hearts The Art of Living Black / The Art of the African Diaspora.
Alfred received acting certification from the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) and studied with legendary actress, poet, playwright, and activist Beah Richards at the Beah Richards Academy of Being (B.R.A.B.). He was a founding player with the African American Shakespeare Company and co-chaired the Drama and Fine Arts Department at Love Ministries Inc. for over fifteen years.
His academic background includes an Associate of Science in Fashion Promotion and Journalism from Los Angeles Trade–Technical College, an Associate of Arts in Social and Behavioral Sciences from Merritt College, and an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts from Laney College.
“Painting is a natural progression of my life’s journey through the arts. My work is fueled by a lifelong practice of observation. In what I see, I find beauty and irony. I document these observations by incorporating the materials—the matter, the building blocks—that shape what I record. I ask: What did it become? How did it become? How do I make it become? How does it speak? And what do I have to say in response? Through texture, form, color, life, and culture, my work seeks to entertain, inform, stimulate, provoke, and ultimately add beauty.”
"Introspection" 24" X 24" Mixed Media on canvas $3000
"Druzy & Drops" 24" X 36" Mixed Media on canvas $3000
"Mars Black _ Druzy" 24" X 24" Mixed Media on canvas $3000
"Garden Menagerie" 36" X 48" Mixed Media on canvas $4500
"Head in Cloud" 30" X 40" Mixed Media on canvas $4000