HYPERALLERGIC Names Mark Steven Greenfield a top 10 show to see in October

Mark Steven Greenfield, “Saartjie Baartman” (2020), gold leaf and acrylic on wood panel, 24 x 24 inches (~61 x 61 cm) (photo by Rob Brander, courtesy William Turner Gallery)

Auras features two bodies of paintings by Mark Steven Greenfield — Black Madonna (2020) and HALO (2022) — that reconsider the breadth of the Black experience in the Americas by excavating and reframing contested histories. HALO comprises portraits of influential Black figures, from the revered to the lesser-known, including Haitian Revolution leader Toussaint Louverture, famed magician Black Herman, and silhouette artist Moses Williams — formerly enslaved by Charles Willson Peale — portrayed as saintly icons surrounded by gold leaf. Black Madonna depicts a beatific ebony Madonna and child, while Ku Klux Klan members and monuments to white supremacy are vanquished and toppled in the background.




Mark Steven Greenfield Opening Tomorrow at the Ronald H. Silverman Gallery at Cal State LA

AURAS: New Icons by Mark Steven Greenfield
in collaboration with William Turner Gallery
curated by Mika M. Cho
 
August 19 – October 22, 2024
Artist Reception:
Saturday, August 24, 2024, 5 - 8 PM

Ronald H. Silverman Fine Arts Gallery

5151 State University Dr, Los Angeles CA 90032
MAP

Francisco Manicongo, 2024, Acrylic and Gold Leaf on Wood Panel, 20 x 16 in.

My work concerns itself with the complexities of the African American experience, both historically and in contemporary society. The work often revolves around a number of themes which include subjects as diverse as African American stereotypes, spiritual practices, social justice, meditative practices and abstraction based on my interpretation of the process by which images are formed in the subconscious.” – Mark Steven Greenfield
 
Mark Steven Greenfield is a painter of phenomenal insight, exemplified by his upcoming exhibition “AURAS: New Icons by Mark Steven Greenfield.” The majority of his paintings in this exhibition are presented for the first time at the Ronald H. Silverman Fine Arts Gallery. These images draw upon issues that have been at play regarding the black identity and black history in the United States. These two series are reflective of the spirituality that permeates the black psyche and reach back into the earliest of experiences of their presence on the American continent or even before, as well as their exposure to the European narratives and their appropriations by the Christianized Blacks. Haloconveys the black spiritual experience through various social, political, and religious signs and symbols by appropriating the icons of the colonizing Europeans.

AURAS, 2024, Acrylic and Gold Leaf on Wood Panel, 30 x 40 in

AURAS: New Icons by Mark Steven Greenfield

ARTIST RECEPTION
Saturday, August 24, 2024, 5 - 8 PM

Conversation between Artist, Mark Steven Greenfield and Art Critic, Shana Nys Dambrot
September 28, 2024, 2 - 4 PM

5151 State University Dr, Los Angeles CA 90032
MAP

A short video highlighting the Califia from Mark Steven Greenfield's exhibition HALO

California’s namesake, Califia (c. 1510) is the mythical Black warrior Queen who raised a menacing army of Amazons on the fabled island of California, a utopia brimming with pearls and gold. Commanding a Naval fleet and an aerial flock of five-hundred winged Griffins, the pagan Queen is a fierce adversary for the Crusaders but is eventually conquered, converted to Christianity and married off to a chivalrous Spaniard. She returns to California with her husband to establish a new Christian dynasty as further adventures ensue. The literary character is from Castillian, Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s 16th century epic poem, Las Sergas de Esplandián. When Spanish explorers, under the command of Hernán Cortés, learned of an island off the coast of western Mexico rumored to be ruled by Amazon women, they named it California.

Mark Steven Greenfield Catalog Signing & Talk - THIS SATURDAY!

Photograph By Tony Pinto

Join Mark Steven Greenfield & William Turner for a conversation & walkthrough of Greenfield's current exhibition, HALO.

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2022

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
3:00 Refreshments
3:30 Walk through begins 4:15 Catalog signing

MARK STEVEN GREENFIELD 

Mark Steven Greenfield is a native Angelino, and son of a Tuskegee Airman, which led to spending the first part of his life abroad, living on military bases from Taiwan to Germany, until returning to LA at the age of ten. In high school Greenfield studied with revered Los Angeles artist, John T Riddle. Riddle quickly noted Greenfield’s talent, but saw that he was vulnerable to the influences and dangers confronting black youth at the time.  Riddle remarked, "You could be a pretty good artist....if you live that long.” This got Greenfield’s attention and set him on the path that would define the course of his life. 

Greenfield went on to study with Charles White, at Otis Art Institute, and received his Bachelor’s degree in Art Education in 1973 from California State University, Long Beach and a Masters of Fine Arts degree in painting and drawing from California State University Los Angeles in 1987. 

This year, Greenfield’s work was the subject of a 20-Year retrospective at the Museum of Art & History in Lancaster, CA, from which the The Crocker Museum of art acquired a piece for their permanent collection. 

Greenfield’s work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States most notably with a comprehensive survey exhibition at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles in 2014, and in 2002 at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. Internationally, he has exhibited at the Chiang Mai Art Museum in Thailand; at Art 1307 in Naples, Italy; the Blue Roof Museum in Chengdu, China; 1333 Arts, Tokyo, Japan; and the Gang Dong Art Center in Seoul, South Korea. 

Greenfield is a recipient of the L.A. Artcore Crystal Award (2006) Los Angeles Artist Laboratory Fellowship Grant (2011), the City of Los Angeles Individual Artist Fellowship (COLA 2012), The California Community Foundation Artist Fellowship (2012), the Instituto Sacatar Artist Residency Fellowship in Salvador, Brazil (2013) , the McColl Center for Art + Innovation Residency in Charlotte, North Carolina (2016) and Loghaven artist residency in Knoxville, Tennessee in 2021. He was a visiting professor at the California Institute of the Arts in 2013 and California State University Los Angeles in 2016. 

From 1993-2011, Greenfield worked for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs as director of the Watts Towers Arts Center, and later as director of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park. He has served on the boards of the Downtown Artists Development Association, the Armory Center for the Arts, the Black Creative Professionals Association, the Watts Village Theatre Company and was past president of the Los Angeles Art Association/Gallery 825. He currently teaches drawing and design at Los Angeles City College, and serves on the board of Side Street Projects, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibition (LACE) and the Harpo Foundation. 

WTG EVENT - IN CONVERSATION: with MARK STEVEN GREENFIELD

Mark Steven Greenfield, Califia, 2022, gold leaf and acrylic on wood panel, 30" x 56"

Join Mark Steven Greenfield & William Turner for a conversation & walkthrough of Greenfield's current exhibition, HALO.


SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2022 / 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm 
3:00 Refreshments
3:30 Walk through begins
4:15 Catalog signing


Join Mark Steven Greenfield & William Turner for a conversation & walkthrough of Greenfield's current exhibition, HALO.

The two will discuss Greenfield's artistic practice and rooted engagement with the social and political issues involving race and racial identity. The conversation will address issues surrounding colonialism, slavery, and their impact on the historical record and will involve many of the individuals featured in the exhibition who have been marginalized and omitted from accepted narratives.     

Additionally, Mark Steven Greenfield will be signing our new Halo exhibition catalog for any who wish to acquire one.

Rewards Program, 2021, gold leaf and acrylic on wood panel, 24" x 36"

About Mark Steven Greenfield: With a 2022 acquisition by the Crocker Art Museum, a 20-year museum Survey Exhibition at the Museum of Art & History in Lancaster, a coveted residency at Log Haven in Knoxville, TN and critical acclaim for his recent exhibitions, Black Madonna & Halo, Greenfield has been on the kind of career roll that artists dream of. That Greenfield has managed to develop a major body of work and career, while also contributing significantly to the arts and culture of Los Angeles, is a testament to his dedication and practice. From1993-2011, Greenfield worked for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs as director of the Watts Towers Arts Center, and later as director of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park. He has served on the boards of the Downtown Artists Development Association, the Armory Center for the Arts, the Black Creative Professionals Association, the Watts Village Theatre Company and was past president of the Los Angeles Art Association/Gallery 825. He currently teaches drawing and design at Los Angeles City College, and serves on the board of Side Street Projects. His work is in numerous museum and public collections.

Last day to see Black Madonna - 84 Page fully illustrated catalog now available.

Please come see us at or before 5pm today for the last viewing of Black Madonna. 84-page fully illustrated catalog is now available at the gallery or for mail order. Please contact William Turner Gallery to order your copy.

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