Offramp Gallery is pleased to present Othello's Ghost, a solo exhibition of works by Mark Steven Greenfield, from July 12 - August 23, 2009. The opening reception will be Sunday, July 12, 2009 from 2-5pm.

African American artist Mark Steven Greenfield is both fascinated and repelled by images of Blackface Minstrelsy, the predominant form of American stage entertainment for almost a hundred years. Greenfield appropriates the images of white entertainers in blackface, strips them from their original context, in some instances superimposing text, to create works that are contemporary in aesthetic and provocative in content.

The exhibition is comprised of works from previous series of Greenfield's as well as new work. The show's title, Othello's Ghost, refers to one of the earliest known uses of changing skin color for theater, Shakespeare's Othello. In his artist's statement about Othello's Ghost, Greenfield writes, "in my most recent work I’m examining the effect these images have had on the collective subconscious of the American psyche. The most obvious stereotypical caricatures in this exhibition exist on the conscious level and serve as a starting point for this exploration."

Exhibition co-curated by Jane Chafin and Anita Bunn.

Click here for more information about Mark's work

Current Exhibition
Megann Zwierlein: Artist's Books
through June 21, 2009

Continuing at Offramp Gallery through June 21 is Quinton Bemiller: Poles, a site-specific installation in the garden, in conjunction with Quinton Bemiller: Chance and Choice. In Poles, Quinton adresses his interest in color and color relationships. He will be installing a meandering line of painted pvc pipes in the garden, informally spaced and referencing the colors found there. Of Poles, Quinton states:

In nature, colors modulate and change over time. There are surprising connections to be found. Each environment seems to have a particular color palette of its own, be it in a canyon or in a backyard. . . From one pole to the next, each color changes gradually in a progression of color. This is something I often do in my paintings. Here, one can walk alongside the poles, experiencing the color modulations in real time while observing their interaction with the immediate environment.

Click here to learn more about Poles

Thanks to everyone who attended the May 10th opening here at Offramp. Quinton Bemiller's garden installation, Poles, and the beautiful weather lent a festive atmosphere to the afternoon. Artists John O'Brien and Joey Santarromana (pictured at upper right with John's son Francesco) battled it out on the ping pong table while others chose more relaxing activities.

John came back later in the week with a group from the Armory Center for the Arts, where he is giving a series of seminar-style conversations about contemporary art. Included in the group of Pasadena Art Alliance members was art philanthropist, Peggy Phelps.

I had a wonderful visit from artists Dawn Arrowsmith and Roland Reiss, who came to check out the current exhibitions. Artist and El Nopal Press founder, Francesco Siqueiros (pictured at lower right, second from right) also dropped by to discuss a garden project he is doing at Offramp at the end of the summer.