Art Criticism – Art reviews written by Valdosta State University students

About this Blog

This website is written by students in the Issues in Art Criticism class at Valdosta State University. Students review exhibitions at the Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery on campus. Each student in the class chooses 1-2 reviews to publish on this site. Select the exhibitions by name on the menu at the left to read their reviews.

Spring 2024 reviews:

“Art Spoken,” Valdosta National 2024 at the VSU Dedo Maranville Gallery
“Spectrum,” Graduating senior exhibition for BA/BFA Studio Art majors, at the VSU Dedo Maranville Gallery

Spring 2023 reviews:

Raina Belleau, “Enchanted Forest Fire” at the VSU Dedo Maranville Gallery
Graduating senior exhibition for BA/BFA Studio Art majors, at the VSU Dedo Maranville Gallery

Spring 2022 reviews:

“Black is… New Work by Samuel Dunson and Traci Mims” at the VSU Dedo Maranville Gallery
Graduating senior exhibition for BA/BFA Studio Art majors, at the VSU Dedo Maranville Gallery

Spring 2021 reviews:

“Valdosta National,” a national juried competition show at the VSU Dedo Maranville Gallery
“She Said, She Said, She Said: A Collage Collective,” at the Turner Center for the Arts, Valdosta
Graduating senior exhibition for BA/BFA Studio Art majors, at the VSU Dedo Maranville Gallery

Spring 2020 reviews:

“Valdosta National,” a national juried competition show
“Margi Weir: Bearing Witness”
Graduating senior exhibitions for BA/BFA Studio Art majors, “In Bold,” and BFA in Interior Design

Spring 2019 reviews:

“Valdosta National,” a national juried competition show
“Mixed Bag: An Assortment of Contemporary Craft,” featuring artists in residence at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, Tenn. from June 2017 to May 2018
“Convergence,” the senior exhibition

Fall 2017 reviews:

“Art Faculty Exhibition,” an exhibition of art by VSU Art & Design faculty
“Y/our Eyes: Paintings by Julia Morrisroe”
“Cute & Creepy”

McKenize Simpson and Her Idea of Home

By Amy Graham

McKenzie Simpson is from Quitman, Georgia and is a senior at Valdosta State University. Simpson’s work in “Spectrum,” the Valdosta State University’s spring 2024 senior show, focuses on the theme of home as well as bringing printmaking from the two-dimensional space into the three-dimensional world. She uses mixed media to incorporate screen printing into three-dimensional objects. She explains that the theme of home came to be after she was asked about her interior designs and why she created them. Prior to that conversation she thought the interior spaces were just an obsession with colors and rooms. However, that changed once she realized they were connected to her idealized version of home. She explained that home was not necessarily a place, but the people she cares about.

Art Spoken Exhibition Review

by Chelsea Selph

On January 10th, 2023 an exhibition titled “Art Spoken” was opened to the public at Valdosta State University’s Dedo Maranville Gallery. The exhibit, curated by Mark Errol, aims to highlight underrepresented voices. The juror chosen was Olivia Richardson from Northern Virginia. Richardson is mainly a printmaker who focuses on creating artwork that explores her identity as a person of color. That fits right in with the theme of Art Spoken, so Richardson was a good choice for the juror of this show.

Spectrum Exhibition Review

by Chelsea Selph

On April 7th, 2024 an exhibition titled “Spectrum” was opened to the public at Valdosta State University’s Dedo Maranville Gallery. This exhibition is being held to display the talents of Valdosta State University’s seniors in our art programs. The title “Spectrum” is to exhibit the multitude of art forms used by the students in this show, everything from ceramics to printmaking. Seven students from VSU showcased their talents in this exhibition, and now you get to be introduced to their works.

Art Spoken For Inclusivity and Diversity

By: Desiree Rose Bailon

How far can someone speak out, especially about certain topics or implying certain ideas that would be seen as controversial or problematic? The Valdosta National of 2024 tries to implement the idea of allowing different artists to display their identity through their artworks. The artists presented were filtered and selected by the juror, Olivia Richardson, in collaboration with Mark T. Errol, the curator for Art Spoken. Art Spoken was designed to bring in in different artists of different races, ethnicities, and sexual orientation to light and into the spotlight to show who they are as people and show themselves through their work. The idea was solid, but the desired outcome was lacking. The effort was there, but it seemed too lackluster of what it means to show the artist’s identity and who they are to be recognized in honorable fashion.

A Spectrum of Art

By: Desiree Rose Bailon

For all graduates, there is a sign of how much they have grown within their studies during their years in college or university. A final showcase of their work and progress is what the senior show is at the end of every semester, just for those whose careers are around the world of art. Spectrum is the title of the senior show of Spring 2024, and it was a wide range of different people with different works from different mediums. The term spectrum have a wide range of meanings, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, where it started from a supernatural meaning to physics to any other way spectrum was used. The logo and introduction card to the gallery is a CMYK light spectrum, which fit the term quite literally in terms of light and color—the physics bringing in the term to literal representation. Why is the term itself be included in this? The artworks from each person spoke for themselves. These are some selected works of art from few of the seniors to give an idea of what their show brought in for the people to see.

Gabrielle “Gabby” Fogarty at VSU’s 2024 Spectrum Senior Exhibition

By Nyasha Ortiz

Meet Gabrielle Fogarty, a local of Valdosta, who shared her thoughts on her art during the Valdosta State Senior exhibition. She stated that she has an idealized version of what she wants her art to be, which is perhaps more illustrative. When creating her art, she uses shapes and color palettes to vividly illustrate the concept of togetherness by delving into her past experiences and memories. Fogarty is graduating from Valdosta State University this May 2024 and is pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art with a minor in Psychology. Like all her Senior peers, she has had the pressure of balancing school life and mastering the creation of her art in perfect unison. For Fogarty, she ties the two worlds of everyday life and memories to her art. She followed her dreams of applying to the Disney college program in the Fall of 2021 and getting accepted. The Disney College Program is a prestigious internship program offered by the Walt Disney Company, which provides participants with the unique opportunity to work and learn at one of Disney’s theme parks or resorts. For her, this meant working as an attraction cast member at Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and fully immersing herself in the world of Disney. As part of the program, she gained valuable hands-on experience in guest relations, entertainment, and park operations while also participating in educational and professional development activities tailored to her role. This experience helped her transform from a shy, nervous girl to a “better version of myself that I am today in a year’s difference,” as Fogarty puts it.

Living in a World of Black and White: A Gonzalo Malagon Retrospective at the Spectrum Exhibition.

Written and Edited by Adjani Williams, Last revised April 29th, 2024.

A photograph of a road taken at night with the right side of the road being illuminated by headlights. This includes, but is not limited to: A Speed Limit sign, a Train Track Crossing Sign, and an Arrow Sign. — Gonzalo Malagon, Modern Nature, Photograph, 24 x 32 in, 2024

“It comes up in my photos a lot, whether it be for myself, or… just, like, feelings that I have, or like how something makes you feel that way.”
Malagon, 2024

Throughout all my time spent with Gonzalo Malagon, I have yet to ask the one question that seemed so obvious in retrospect: why were his photos in black and white? It is simply astonishing that this was not asked about sooner! And yet, here we are. I, the author of these words and host of the past interview, and the seemingly small question that has escaped from my field of vision. It is a vexing, ever-present affair that requires the subsequent sink in time and attention, enrapturing akin to that of a piece of the puzzle that has gone undocumented and unsearched. Perhaps an answer lies within the details.

Phyliscia Lundy at VSU’s 2024 Senior Exhibition

Written by: Madison Connolly

Phylisicia Lundy, originally from Americus, Georgia, presented multiple series of work in the Senior Exhibition titled “Spectrum” in the Valdosta State University Gallery. All series within Phylisica’s part of the show use photography, graphic design and ceramics and express a common theme throughout all of them. Lundy stated that “humanism, individuality, investigation, and critique” are just a few of the common themes that run throughout her pieces. She explains “I use art as a tool to shed light on certain situations that might need to be addressed.” She talks about the idea of “introspection and extrospection”, “Intro” being the things happening within oneself and “extro” being the things happening outside oneself.

Phyliscia Lundy, Unspoken Truths, 2023

Valdosta National 2024: “Art Spoken” Gallery Review

by Nyasha Ortiz

The Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery has opened its doors to host the Valdosta National Annual Juried Exhibition. This event is unlike traditional galleries as it deviates from the usual pretty painted visuals style. The exhibition’s theme this year is “Art Spoken” and aims to create a unique and thought-provoking experience for visitors. It emphasizes “storytelling, challenging conversations, and artistic vision.”^[1] The exhibition features a diverse array of mediums such as photography, sculpture, and paintings that have been carefully selected to inspire discussion and exploration. Every piece on display is a thought-provoking and powerful expression of art that aims to captivate the viewers’ hearts and minds. The exhibition has a thematic approach, exploring different concepts such as war, timelessness, the cycle of life, and the challenges faced by people of color, among others. It seeks to amplify “the unrepresented voices and perspectives of artists across the United States and showcase the talented students of Valdosta State University,” ^[1] as juror Olivia Richardson explains.

Valdosta National 2024 “Art Spoken” Review

By: Madison Connolly

“Art Spoken”, the Valdosta National exhibition, located in the Dedo Maranville Gallery was recently hosted January 10th through February 9th. This year’s annual show has been receiving mixed responses from students due to the selections of artwork by juror Olivia Richardson. Juror Olivia Richardson writes a bold statement, expressing her reasoning behind her selections, stating that she is representing the “underrepresented voices” and showing vulnerability in order to show progression within our society. While researching the history of “Art Spoken” it is known that the artists that are supposed to be represented in these shows are supposed to be people of color, which is why me and many other students were confused when they read the Juror statement. While there is a small selection of artists of color represented in the exhibition, a majority of the pieces do not even speak on any of the problems within those communities.