Mark Steven Greenfield - The LA Metro Project - Red Car Requiem

For L.A.'s newest underground art experience, head down to the Metro Regional Connector

For your next art outing, head underground.

The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority debuted its Regional Connector Transit Project yesterday, a $1.8 billion undertaking that’s been more than a decade in the making. It includes three new downtown L.A. subway stations — theGrand Ave. Arts/Bunker Hill, Historic Broadway and Little Tokyo/Arts District stops — and each are filled with ambitious new works of art.

Eight artists were commissioned by Metro Art to create permanent, site-specific installations for the stations: Andrea Bowers, Clare Rojas, Audrey Chan, Mark Steven Greenfield, Ann Hamilton, Clarence Williams, Mungo Thomson and Pearl C. Hsiung.There are also two wall-mounted light box installations in the Broadway and Grand Avenue stations, part of a rotating art program. The inaugural artists for those spaces are Ralph Gilbert and Samira Yamin.

Mark Steven Greenfield with his glass mosaic, “Red Car Requiem,” at the new Historic Broadway Station. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

“These are significant pieces, by established artists, that are integrated into the overall architecture of the project but also will attract people on their own,” says Metro Art program Senior Director Zipporah Yamamoto. “People will stop and look at these artworks. It’s a major part of the transit experience — and the Los Angeles experience. It extends the downtown L.A. arts and culture experience into the station.”

By Deborah Vankin (Read the rest of the piece on LATimes.com)

ABOUT THE PROJECT
Piecing together parts of a large-scale glass mosaic mural in for the Historic Broadway Station. Created by Mark Steven Greenfield, “Red Car Requiem” is a site-specific mural spanning a 171-foot wide. The artwork is the largest glass mosaic artwork in Metro’s system. Each element of the artwork was matched in the dynamic colors and the placement of over 1 million hand-cut glass pieces during the mosaic’s fabrication process. The Regional Connector is a 1.9-mile light rail project connecting the A Line (Blue), E Line (Expo) and L Line (Gold) in downtown Los Angeles. The project features artwork integrated into three new stations: Little Tokyo/Arts District Station, Historic Broadway Station, and Grand Ave Arts/Bunker Hill Station. For more information on the Regional Connector Transit Project artworks, visit: https://metro.net/moredtlaart

ARTILLERY MAGAZINE - RACIAL RECKONING Mark Steven Greenfield Illuminates the Black Experience - By Clayton Campbell

A short video highlighting the Califia from Mark Steven Greenfield's exhibition HALO

California’s namesake, Califia (c. 1510) is the mythical Black warrior Queen who raised a menacing army of Amazons on the fabled island of California, a utopia brimming with pearls and gold. Commanding a Naval fleet and an aerial flock of five-hundred winged Griffins, the pagan Queen is a fierce adversary for the Crusaders but is eventually conquered, converted to Christianity and married off to a chivalrous Spaniard. She returns to California with her husband to establish a new Christian dynasty as further adventures ensue. The literary character is from Castillian, Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s 16th century epic poem, Las Sergas de Esplandián. When Spanish explorers, under the command of Hernán Cortés, learned of an island off the coast of western Mexico rumored to be ruled by Amazon women, they named it California.

MARK STEVEN GREENFIELD: HALO Extended through July 30, 2022

William Turner Gallery is pleased to announce that HALO will be extended through July 30th. For more information about this groundbreaking exhibit please contact the gallery or view the catalog using the link below.

Mark Steven Greenfield, Califia, 2022, gold leaf and acrylic on wood panel, 30" x 56"

California’s namesake, Califia (c. 1510) is the mythical Black warrior Queen who raised a menacing army of Amazons on the fabled island of California, a utopia brimming with pearls and gold. Commanding a Naval fleet and an aerial flock of five-hundred winged Griffins, the pagan Queen is a fierce adversary for the Crusaders but is eventually conquered, converted to Christianity and married off to a chivalrous Spaniard. She returns to California with her husband to establish a new Christian dynasty as further adventures ensue. The literary character is from Castillian, Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo’s 16th century epic poem, Las Sergas de Esplandián. When Spanish explorers, under the command of Hernán Cortés, learned of an island off the coast of western Mexico rumored to be ruled by Amazon women, they named it California.