In keeping with a new tradition that began last year, Our Authors Study Club bestowed visual artist Mark Steven Greenfield with its first Trailblazer Award. This year’s reception was held on Feb. 15, at the historic Pico House in downtown Los Angeles. He was also presented with a special framed proclamation from Mayor Karen Bass by Deputy Mayor Jacqueline Hamilton.
Public Works Commissioner Mike Davis served as the emcee. The evening also paid tribute to the 26 founding families of African American descent who blazed a trail with other founders to establish El Pueblo de Los Angeles.
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Los Angeles’s modern trailblazers with long standing histories of accomplishment and impact were recognized in alignment with the national theme of “African Americans and the Arts.”
“This year we are proud to recognize one of the prominent visual artists in Los Angeles, Mark Steven Greenfield. His work reflects social justice, stereotypes, spiritual practices, and the Black Madonna. One can easily see the complexities of the African American experience from his work,” Davis revealed.
“The national theme of African American History Month is ‘African Americans and the Arts.’ This program focusing on our visual artists allows us to display the dynamic and innovative work being done in the great city of Los Angeles,” he added.
According to Lura Daniels-Ball, OASC president, “We are thrilled to celebrate Mark Steven Greenfield and his remarkable achievements in the art world. His work embodies the spirit of creativity, resilience, and even resistance that we aim to showcase and celebrate through our initiatives.”
The program also included a discussion between Charmaine Jefferson, board chair of the California Institute of the Arts, and Greenfield, who are both LA natives and childhood friends. Greenfield studied under Jefferson’s uncle, John Riddle, and Charles White at Otis Art Institute in a program sponsored by the Golden State Life Insurance Company. The pair reviewed his body of work throughout the years, which originated during the Black Power movement into the fight for Civil Rights.
He went on to receive his bachelor’s degree in art education in 1973 from CSU – Long Beach. To support his ability to make his art, he held various positions as a visual display artist, a park director, a graphic design instructor, and a police artist before returning to school, graduating with Master of Fine Arts degree in painting and drawing from CSU – Los Angeles in 1987.
Greenfield’s work has been exhibited throughout the country at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, and the California African American Museum. Internationally, he has exhibited in Thailand at the Chiang Mai Art Museum, in Naples, Italy at Art 1307, Villa Donato, the Gang Dong Art Center in Seoul, South Korea, and the Blue Roof Museum in Chengdu, PRC.
He is represented by the Ricco Maresca Gallery in New York and the William Turner Gallery in Santa Monica, California. His work deals primarily with the African American experience and in recent years has focused on the effects of stereotypes on American culture stimulating much needed and long overdue dialog on issues of race.
“My work concerns itself with the complexities of the African American experience, both historically and in contemporary society,” said Greenfield in a statement discussing his most recent work, “The Black Madonna.”
“Concurrently I’m producing a series, which recounts little known stories associated with Black saints, folk saints and pseudo-saints and a few scoundrels of the African Diaspora.”
Greenfield was a visiting professor at the California Institute of the Arts in 2013 and was artist-in-residence at California State University, Los Angeles in 2016. He currently teaches at Los Angeles City College.
