Taking Back the Power: Works of Mark Steven Greenfield

 Art 413

Taking Back the Power

Works of Mark Steven Greenfield

By Vince Velasco

Untitled,  2000. Serigraph 


Mark Steven Greenfield is an American artist who focuses on the sensitive topic of black experience in the US. His work explores racial discrimination historically, through media and culture The artist sparks the important discussion of racial discrimination by using the provocative imagery of blackface. He appropriates this problematic part of American history and superimposes the black face imagery with an eye chart containing a witty phrase. The addition of the eye exam chart was a clever way of telling the audience to re-examine their views. Greenfield takes the power away from the racist image by spotlighting its original discriminatory meaning  in a way that its racist content may be discussed and forces the audience to reflect upon the history of discrimination in the US.  

In his zoom lecture in CSUF, Greenfield mentioned that nowadays, these photographs offend more white Americans than black, because its content says a lot more about the people wearing black face than the people they were meant to denigrate.                               

Bad Ass Motherfucker, 2015. Acrylic Ink on Duralar

Another artwork that takes the power away from discriminatory images is Bad Ass Motherfucker (2015). Greenfield mentions that he found this character in an 19th century advertisement. The image shows a stylized black man that is angry and grimacing at the same time. Greenfield then notes that the word “Motherfucker” has two meanings. One is derogatory, which is more popularized. The second, positive meaning is lesser known. The word was used as a compliment between jazz musicians and is synonymous to great player or “Badass.” Greenfield uses the ad in a new light as he transforms something that was meant to damage and discriminate African Americans into an artwork that empowers them. It is important for people to recognize that racism is still an ongoing issue in the US and Greenfield’s artworks do a great job at bringing up these serious topics to light.

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