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Tony Brown Carol Es Mark Steven Greenfield Elizabeth Hoffman Steve Irvin Michele Jaquis Midge Lynn Mary Milelczik Ali Smith Suzan Woodruff |
Mark Steven Greenfield At the beginning of the new millenium, I took stock of the stereotypical images that have haunted African Americans and concluded that we could not endure them for another century. I began to study the effect blackface minstrelsy had on the American psyche and drew parallels between that and contemporary appropriations of African American culture. In my work I alter the context of the stereotype in order to buffer the viewer's visceral reaction to its grotesqueness. I challenge the viewer to suspend or embrace their emotional reaction long enough to analyze what they are looking at. I acknowledge the viewer's indignation by using text which is sometimes as counter culture as are the images. Blackface minstrelsy became the dumping ground for everything the dominant culture despised about itself and as such became it's "shadow". Concurrently African Americans projected every negative aspect identified with us on these images, establishing them as our "shadow" also. It is my belief that we can never fully exorcise that which we do not first recognize. It is my hope that recognition of this alter ego will be the key to removing it's power. Artwork Artist I.D. Gallery |