Alpo portrait on display in Soho gallery.
In February of 2021 I had an art exhibit at Black Wall Street gallery in Soho New York. One of the paintings I made for the exhibit was an portrait of Alpo Martinez. At the time many people were confused about why I chose him as an subject to paint. I felt like he was the perfect subject to paint because of his complex history. Yes he was a drug dealing gangster who would wind up killing a lot of people and as an result in order to save himself from facing the death penalty turned government informant. No disrespect to the families of the victims, But he was also a fashion influencer who was responsible for Harlem designer Dapper Dan getting on the map with the most popular rappers of the late 80s early 90s. A lot of the rapper’s would see Alpo wearing custom Dapper Dan designs and wanted that look for themselves as well. Personally I was never into the look but I could see why it took off with entertainers. I titled this particular piece of art Gun’s & Roses, because Po was a lover and a killer when he had to be. The portrait is actually taken from the now famous photo of Po wearing the blue velvet hat with Lucky the dog on it. Lucky is an character I created in 2014 to put good energy out into the world. I have painted Lucky in oil paint and different types mediums. I have sold paintings of Lucky through out the world. last September I began making Lucky hats in velvet.. From the very beginning they took off people have purchased them all over America. We have shipped as far as London England. Alpo was one of the first people to support my brand Will Roberson designs.. Check me out on instagram. Alpo was pro Harlem if you had a brand that he liked he would support it by purchasing it. Wearing it and promoting it. I appreciated his support of my brand so I did a painting to honor that support. All my art work and hats sold out at Black Wall Street gallery.. Every piece except the Alpo painting because it wasn’t up for sale. I ended up falling out with the owner of Black Wall Street but that’s another story… I’ll tell another time….