By Jasmine Frazier
This past October, I had the pleasure of going to the Valdosta State University Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery to attend the “Cute and Creepy” art exhibition located in Valdosta, Georgia. When I walked into the gallery my eyes were drawn to a lady wearing a black Medieval-looking dress and hat. Carrie Ann Baade is the curator of “Cute and Creepy.” In her introduction, Baade talked about the name of the exhibition, “Cute and Creepy.” She explained that the title of the show was not her initial idea. When pitching the show to an art gallery, she just thought of what would come to people’s minds when viewing the show.
Among the dark paintings and sculptures lined along the wall, there was one painting that stood out to me the most; it was a painting by Laurie Hogin titled Sugar Trilogy I: Tricks . What makes this painting stand out from the other paintings is the white, light color palette . In the painting, is a white crisp linen cloth on a table with two white bowls, two white vases, three eggs, and scattered cereal. One of the bowls is filled with the vibrant-colored cereal. The three eggs have minimal designs on them, painted with vibrant colors. There is also a bunny rabbit that sits on the table amid everything. The texture of the bunny rabbit’s fur looks so soft to the point where I wanted to reach out and touch it. Though, if the bunny rabbit were actually real, it would have probably attacked me. The expression on its face looks terrifying. Its nose is scrunched up with its mouth opened. I counted four teeth: two at the bottom and two at the top, but sharp to where it could bite you and cause some serious damage . There are wrinkles in the bunny rabbit’s forehead and its eyes are red. Both the iris and the sclera are red. Yet, as weird as it may sound, the painting, overall, evokes a winsome emotion from me. I am fond of how the snarling bunny and softness of the white in the painting work well together . Hogin’s painting is the best literal example of the show’s title “Cute and Creepy.”
Another painting that caught my attention was an artwork by Chet Zar titled The Emperor . The Emperor is a dark oil painting, but it stood out to me the most from all the other dark paintings. The color palette that Zar used were greys, dark browns, reds, and muted blues. What attracted me to Zar’s painting is the use of linear lines. The painting is a portrait of a demonic-type creature. The creature has long hair and a full long beard. The creature also has a cracked exterior with one big eye, or what used to be an eyeball. There is red “gushy stuff” inside of the eye opening in place of where the eyeball would have been. The demonic-like creature is also wearing a hat and a cloak. On the creature’s hat is a skull and two crossbones. When there is a skull with crossbones, that usually is a warning symbol for something poisonous, danger, or even death. Adding that symbol makes the painting all the more creepy. The background of Zar’s painting has several pointy mountain-like structures with fog which makes the painting look mysterious. The fog adds a sense of the unknown and uncertainty. There also is fire further back in the background. Based on the demonic subject matter, the mysterious, creepy background, and dark color palette, The Emperor is a depiction of hell. The Emperor definitely falls underneath the creepy category in the show.
In conclusion, the artworks in the show were cute and/or creepy. I liked the theme of the exhibition. The fact that an adjective incorporated its antonym made “Cute and Creepy” interesting. I was intrigued by the show just by knowing the title. Overall, the artists were successful in bringing the theme of the show to life with their cute and creepy artworks.
Jasmine Frazier is majoring in art education at Valdosta State University, and is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. Jasmine plans to become an art teacher.