Roamings of a Leo: Cal. African American Museum

On Martin Luther King day, I visited the California African American Museum in Exposition Park. Although it was late afternoon, people were still enjoying the day with music and a MLK birthday cake. I visited two exhibits that I enjoyed. The first is called "Lookin' Back In Front Of Me: Selected works of Mark Steven Greenfield, 1974-2014. This is the first time I observed his creations. He was the Director of the Watts Towers Art Center and the L.A. Municipal Art Gallery. The printed program states that this exhibit displays a body of work that Greenfield described as unapologetically didactic based on his research on literature, cinema, history and visual arts. He has delved into the artistic renaissance of LA's Crenshaw community, gang culture, genealogy and African American stereotypes as well as the re-contextualization of American appropriations of African spiritual practices. Here are images of his work:

"Wholesale," 1974

"Gemini," 1974

The next two paintings are a sample of Greenfield portraits of musicians, performers, artists and others entitled "Crenshaw Consciousness" for an exhibit in 1986 in the William Grant Still Art Center and at the Fine Arts Gallery at Cal. State LA as part of his Master's thesis. They are inspired by those who lived and/or worked in the Crenshaw/Leimert Park area of LA near the artist's home. These are done with watercolor on paper mostly.

"Portrait of Artist's Great-Great Grandmother," 1997. The artist created a series on genealogy of family. This is very difficult if not impossible for African Americans because as ancestors who were slaves did not have birth records and only listed as property of slave owners.

"Oops! There it is," 2004
The artist depicts the demeaning of African Americans by Whites through media and The American Minstrel Show which featured white performers in blackface. This series of work is entitled "Blackatacha."

"Jaboobie," 2012

"Somebody Buy Me a Drink," 2013

Here are other examples of his work:

"Blue Loa," 1982

"Love against the Grain," 1981

"Cooties in the Cotton Patch," 2014

"The Pushkin Paradox," 2013

"Dance of Equinox," 1977

"Mystic," 1977

"Child's Play," 1977

"Tears of Stariost Children," 1977

The next exhibit I visited is called "Curvature: Lines & Shapes." The brochure states that this exhibit presents the expressive figurative illustrations of two emerging artists, Michael Kilgore and Anthony "Eve" Kemp. Their artistic styles include the influences of Fauvism, Expressionism and Cubism and celebrate elements of history, physical features and family connections associated with African Americans or in the lives of artists.