Keep your eye on this outstanding young artist!
In fall 2021, the Jasper Project ran a brief article on emerging artist Malik Greene. Since then, we’ve been keeping an eye on Malik and his work and, as we suspected it would, the quality has continued to improve and the content has continued to venture into braver, more dynamic, and more unsettling territory.
Below, please find our original interview with the artist and, following that, a sampling of some of Greene’s powerful new art.
JASPER: First, tell us about yourself, please. The normal stuff -- how old are you, where are you from, where did you go to school?
GREENE: Hey, what’s up, my name is Malik Greene, I was born on July 8th, 1997. I was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, but in 2019 I received my bachelor's degree in psychology with a late minor in studio art from Coastal Carolina University.
JASPER: How did you get started painting?
GREENE: I've always had a curious mind and just wanted to find my own way to be different turned me to an exploration of self; figuring out where I stand in this world and what it is I want to accomplish in my time here honestly led me to dabble my hand in anything that conveyed self-expression. As a kid, I gravitated towards art forms such as illustration and clothing design through learned experiences with family and friends, but I developed a strong passion for painting my second semester of college. I actually made my first painting on the floor of my best friend’s dorm freshman year, so I have a pretty vivid memory of my origin as an artist. I remember ripping up an old trash bag and splattering paint as my heart desired. After I made this first painting, I unintentionally started a fire that still burns today and one painting turned into two and two into four now my entire life is covered in paint… I love it!
JASPER: What’s your favorite medium?
GREENE: I think for me I love how tangible paint is, so I'm constantly amused by how it moves, dries, is applied -- it's almost like a science for me mixing the paints. specifically, I am intrigued by the naturalness of oil paint, and I love that from its origin until its completion finishing a painting is almost like solving a puzzle.
JASPER: What visual artists have influenced you and your work most and why?
GREENE: I think for me I like to be my own biggest influence. I kind of love that I do not know of any artists who create work that looks like mine, especially in my geographic location! My work is uniquely mine and I love how it is strengthened based on the fact that it comes from my own conception. Of course, I have been inspired and have artists that I do admire. George Condo was the first artist whose work I researched greatly and early into my creation of art he was definitely my biggest influence.
Art goes deeper than just something that is pretty I think art can make one uncomfortable and curious respectively, so I seek artists who entertain my psychology and the unconscious pleasures. From older, more venerated artists like Kerry James Marshall (who has become my favorite artist) and Lucian Freud who plays around with texture to younger artists like Gerald Lovell and Reginald Sylvester II, I am truly inspired by artists who do things their own way, aren’t afraid to break the rules and are still extremely aware of these same rules they break.
JASPER: Tell us about why you paint – what’s your mission and what are you trying to communicate to your viewer?
GREENE: For me, my mission is to be able to live a life not controlled by the stigmas that are placed on everyone in this human experience. I think a lot of the things that we as people have been taught are tailoring us to live a carbon copy cookie-cutter "American Dream" -- but who even created that standard? No one asked to be on this earth so it bugs me even further that those expectations are placed on people, why can't we just live life? Do the things that make us happy and inspire others to do the same with what little time we have.
I do believe the role of an artist is to speak on the world that is around them. So, if the world of politics is full of issues, and this is what I see in my world, I think it does become my job to relay my message. I think oftentimes people and artists get pigeonholed into what they should be expected to be, but the only expectation I place on myself is to make the best art I can make while staying authentic to my own story.
JASPER: Can you talk more about your Baby Boy exhibition recently held at Stormwater Studios in Columbia?
GREENE: My debut solo exhibition titled ‘Baby Boy’ is literally like my baby, it opened up July 9th, 2021, and closed July 18th, 2021. The title came from just the feeling and sentiment of me always being “Baby Boy” to those closest to me. I’m the youngest of six siblings so to them, to my mother, to those who know me the best I am always a baby boy no matter how old I am. This exhibition was to convey the many sides of me more as a man. Like a coming home for me celebrating the many sides of me the world may never see.
I felt as if the exhibition went extremely well and brought a lot of attention to me and the works that I have put so much time, effort, and love into. It was such a relief to see my work on the walls and to have the feeling of completion. To know an idea of mine was nurtured, developed, and made into a reality empowers me and that alone makes me certain my exhibition was successful.
JASPER: As a young Black artist, what are your specific challenges?
GREENE: I think the biggest challenge for me as an artist is just being labelled solely a “black artist.” I think I am an amazing artist in general! I want to break the barriers and walls that black artists face where they are seen as only “good for a black artist” or the feeling of making art based on the plight of my ancestors. I choose to make art that brings me progression and strength. I think for me and a lot of other artists who are black we get placed in a box of making contrived art as opposed to art that genuinely speaks and has a message.
I love making art that speaks for those who look like me, who feel like me and those who have felt as I have felt before. Within that umbrella those who identify with me may not be black, but within my art I represent what is tangible to me. I find strength in my identify, but the sentiments of my identity span deeper than me just being black. I think that what I create, and the content of my work is what makes me great, I just so happen to be black.
I think another challenge for me is just having a point of reference that looks like me. I’ve been lucky enough to come across some amazing individuals who have motivated me to continue pushing further but when I see my 8-year-old self I wish I had someone pushing me to be better.
As someone who is self-trained, I don’t have a million references or resources, but for me instead of seeing this as a challenge I see it as an opportunity to be what I didn’t have.
JASPER: What’s next for you?
GREENE: I honestly see myself just diving deeper into my process and the narrative of Malik the artist. My work is directly related to where I am in life so to be inspired to work, I have to experience life. For the better or worse, see some things, do some things better, and feel some things. It’s exciting to know as long as I have my hands, I have a gift no one can take from me. .
