Alvin D. Loving Jr. emerged from Detroit with a singular abstract sensibility shaped by geometric precision, material experimentation, and vibrant expression. Born on September 19, 1935, to an educator father and a quilter mother, his early engagement with color and pattern laid the foundation for his artistic vision. He earned a BFA at the University of Illinois (1963) and an MFA at the University of Michigan (mid-1960s), where he was mentored by Al Mullen.

In 1968, after moving into New York City’s iconic Chelsea Hotel, Loving became the first African-American artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum (1969–70) His early geometric abstractions, marked by modules like hexagons and cubes, pushed spatial and color boundaries with precision and dynamism. By the 1970s, influenced by quilt design and the Whitney’s exhibitions, he embraced fabric constructions, tearing, painting, and stitching canvases into flowing, three-dimensional wall forms echoing Sam Gilliam’s innovations. In the 1980s and 1990s, Loving’s use of rag paper and corrugated board culminated in spiraling, layered collages.

Prominent public projects include a monumental 1972 mural in Detroit, architectural panels in Albany (1973) and Sacramento (1996), a ceramic installation in Detroit (1987), and mosaic and stained-glass windows for NYC’s Broadway Junction station (2001). He received NEA grants in 1970, 1974, and 1984, as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1986, and taught at City College of New York (1988–1996)

His work is represented in major collections: MoMA, the Met, MFA Boston, Philadelphia Museum, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Detroit Institute of Arts, the National Gallery of Art, and more

Adger Cowans, Al Loving, Artist, 42nd Studio, NYC, 1990

Selected Recent Exhibitions

Luminosity: A Detroit Arts Gathering, Charles H. Wright Museum, Detroit, MI, 2025-206

Rediscovery, Clark Atlanta University Museum, GA, 2025

Edges of Ailey, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, 2024-25

Printmaking and the Unconventional Pathways of African-American Artists, Mystic Museum of Art, Mystic, CT, 2024

Glory of the World: Color Field Painting (Early 1950’s-1983), NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 2023-24

With Pleasure: Pattern and Decoration in American Art, 1972-1985, Hessel Art Museum, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, 2021

Cut: Abstraction in the United States from the 1970's to the Present, Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Miami, FL, 2019