Meet Mark Steven Greenfield

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Steven Greenfield.

Mark Steven, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My father was a colonel in the Air Force and I spent most of my early years on bases in Taiwan and Germany, two very different cultures that influenced me enormously. There was little room for self-expression in my father’s house and I was forced to find other means of communicating my deepest feelings. Art wasn’t as much what I did, as what I had to do.

In my teenage years, I was probably more rebellious than most, but I was fortunate enough to have an inspirational teacher who told me “you could be a pretty good artist, if you live that long” His words sunk in and set me on a course that I follow to this day, mindful that I have a responsibility to follow his example. I did my undergraduate work in Art Education at Cal State University Long Beach and was just arrogant enough to think I didn’t need a Master degree, a mistake I set right some 14 years later at Cal State LA. I quickly came to the realization that I couldn’t make a living making art and always held a job to support my ability to do my work. I saw it as a necessary distraction that allowed me to keep my artistic integrity crisp and clean and free of concerns about the marketability of what I was doing. I did window displays for a department store, worked as a park director, was a graphic design instructor, police artist and finally an arts administrator, but I always credit my best job as being a janitor. The themes of my work range from investigations into African American stereotypes, Black history, Genealogy, African spiritual practices in North and South America and eastern traditions of meditation, at times combining genres to produce more nuanced narratives. In all instances the work is intended alter perceptions and stimulate dialog sometimes on subjects that are taboo. In recent years the process has become more important than the final product, which has given me an even greater sense of fulfillment.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
During my tenure as director of the Watts Towers Arts Center I mounted an exhibition of work by a gay artist which depicted police officers dancing with gang members. I immediately saw the irony of the work and felt it could be a teachable moment. Police came to see the show and loved it. Gang members saw the show and they loved it, but there were a group of old ladies in Watts that were not amused, stating that they objected to the way their youth were being characterized. I suspect their protests concealed darker reasons, but I was forced to take the exhibition down after only a week after violence had been threatened against the artist, my staff, and the work. It was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make and haunts me to this day.

Please tell us about Mark Steven Greenfield.
I am an artist and my work deals primarily with the complexities of the African American experience. It is unapologetically didactic and sometimes touches on issues that have for far too long been avoided. My work is intended to stimulate dialog on race, politics and spirituality and toward that end I feel I’ve been successful. It is deeply rooted in “Shadow Theory” and encourages the practice of taking possession of that which constitutes the negative in one’s experience in order to take the power away from it.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
When I was about eight my parents sent me off to International Ranger Camp for the summer. The camp was on a farm in Denmark, just outside of Copenhagen. I had the opportunity to meet kids my age from all over the world. We didn’t always understand each other, but we all knew what it was to have fun. The camp had horseback riding, archery, boating, hiking and nature outings. On one occasion we went into the city to Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park founded in 1843, which I later learned was the inspiration for Disneyland. It remains one of my favorite spots on the planet and I’ve been back several times as an adult.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1822 La Paz Road
  Altadena, CA 91001
• Website: www.markstevengreenfield.com
• Phone: (213) 713-9476
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: dawggie51

Image Credit:
Courtesy California African American Museum

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