Jasper Galleries features monthly artists at Koger Center's The Nook, and our featured Third Thursday artist for the month of May is Malik Greene!
Artist Bio
Malik Greene (b.1997), a South Carolina-based artist started working professionally in 2021 after earning his Bachelors in Psychology from Coastal Carolina University in 2019. Greene is a self-taught artist whose development of his painterly style has been aided by media such as manga and animation. By connecting himself to the numerous facets of historical, political, and popular culture, he hopes to capture an intimate personal narrative through his art, which has enabled him to reveal his own truth. Malik Greene's art conveys a narrative of his life, his aspirations, and the minute details that influence his perception of reality.
Artist Statement
Malik Greene’s art is a means of expression, honoring the people in his immediate environment as an act of resistance and existence. Based on his personal experiences, his large-scale figurative paintings address themes of identity, kinship, and the residual effects of cultural traumas. By expressing these sentiments in his work, Greene is able to consider the societal intricacies surrounding his Black experience.
Greene juxtaposes archival materials and shared memories with an ethereal vision to create works that acknowledge reality while maintaining his painterly sensibility. His use of textural brushstrokes, sensuous colors, and irregular forms evoke intimacy and emotion within his paintings. The subjects in his work possess a level of humanity that is not dependent on societal suffering, however, the figures he creates subtly communicate the lingering effects of their surroundings and how this may innately shape an individual's identity.
In addition to providing the audience an intimate and empathetic glimpse into the lives of people who may not look like them, his work demonstrates the universal relevance of art while also empowering and elevating his cultural identity. His art is a storytelling technique that reflects his ongoing journey of creative self-discovery.