By Riley McBride
“What does it take to make a painting today, ” asked Julia Morrisroe in front of a crowd of faculty, art students, and Valdosta’s community. On September 17, 2017, the Dedo Maranville Gallery at Valdosta State University presented Y/Our Eyes, an installation by Morrisroe. The exhibition opened after an artist’s talk given that warmly greeted the crowd and spoke briefly about the former work of Morrisoe’s and her work currently displayed in the gallery. Morrisroe creates contemporary abstract works that explore the idea of interpreting the information and data emitted from phones, TV, all around us. She uses content that can range anywhere from sunsets of the natural world to characters from Walt Disney. She creates work using images based on the unconfined data of the world.
Morrisroe made the choice to display her artwork unconventionally. Unlike any other installation at the Dedo Maranville Gallery, Morrisroe has painted the walls with organic jumbles of gray lines that reside under her paintings and prints. These lines do not distract from the paintings but create a whimsical atmosphere. Instead of showing the paintings neatly side by side, Morrisroe dedicated a section of the gallery to paintings and prints hung in a salon-style, a style used during the 19th century. This allowed the display of many paintings on a wall, on top and below, in order to conserve space. Though this is not the traditional gallery display, it was the most thoughtful and organized display of art I have experienced at this gallery. This style of display was most likely successful because Morrisroe chose to part with labels residing next to each work of art like many artists normally include. If the descriptions would have been included, the wall may appear excessive and uncontrolled. To compensate for the absence of descriptions, a piece of paper that accounted for each work could be found on a table near the entrance of the gallery.
HMG 111913a, Hambidge is a twelve by twelve inches acrylic painting on unstretched canvas. The abstract painting uses primarily light blues and pinks in the color palette. The focus of the work is a light blue mound shape in the foreground surrounded by a light pink, more angular shape that is larger and behind it. I found myself attempting to study this painting, and as I looked further, more layers in the painting uncovered themselves. Morrisroe’s paintings have many layers that do not always speak out at first glance. After observing them for longer than a glimpse, it is revealed that many vibrant colors are used in the underpainting. Hints of these colors can be seen in the details and negative spaces Morrisroe leaves in the paintings, especially in HMG 111913a, Hambidge. Each layer has a different texture created by what looks like both brushstrokes and the use of thick paint. I was convinced that this was an abstracted gravestone; however, Morrisroe revealed in her artist’s talk that this blue rounded shape was inspired by a chimney of a dilapidated house. She emphasized that the shape of the chimney was rather strange and stuck out to her. The difference between what I believed the painting was and what the painting actually represented shows that her paintings can be subjective to the viewer. If she chose not to reveal the influence of her painting, I would have gone the rest of my life believing it was a ruined gravestone.
Morrisroe asks the question in the age of photography, “What does it take to make a painting?” She explains that her paintings are often site-specific, and the experiences around her are what inspire her. For example, she mentioned the way the sun reflects off water when it is setting. I think this was replicated in a painting called “Knowns and Unknowns”. The most prominent colors in this painting are yellows, blues, and greens. The foreground presents the viewer with a large organic shape outlined with cream lines painted over the shape. The shape is surrounded by what looks like water constructed of many green and blue paint strokes that fade darker towards the bottom of the painting. The background reveals a semicircular shape painted with shades of yellow stripes. This painting is most recognizable as an abstracted sunset on the water. The mix of organic shapes and the repetition of rectangular paint strokes is extremely prominent in this painting, creating a successful composition. In the age of photos, Morrisroe could have easily produced a photo of the sunset, but instead she chose to use generalized shapes of a sunset on water as a painting.
As an abstracted painting, this is more successful than a realistic photograph because it is Morrisroe’s interpretation of the environment she sees. As a photograph, the audience would see Morrisroe’s point of view on the environment but not the way she interacts with it.
Morrisroe says, “The unconscious mind attempts to make sense of this sensory overload, to sort it, arrange it, and make images from it. My paintings focus attention on a consciously constructed image that ignores the precision of the world and revels in the handmade.” She implies that she creates work using images of the world with deliberate intent and careful assembly. Morrisroe “ignores the precision of the world” by loosely interpreting these images, using abstraction to describe them, allowing them to “revel in the handmade,” and celebrating the nuances and idiosyncrasies within her use of brushstrokes and stylistic choices. Her paintings are an interpretation of the data of the world. The subject matter she displays is a simplified version of what she sees and the way she has been immersed in her environment. This exhibition was triumphant in questioning what it takes to make a painting as Morrisroe presents her audience with an exhibition of abstracted works that are inspired by the flourishing data and information the world supplies. By immersing the viewer in a salon-style setting, Morrisroe has surrounded her viewer with the environment she has hand crafted. I interpreted the title, Y/Our Eyes, as Morrisroe’s way of explaining the ways in which humanity as a whole sees the same world but each individual may see it differently than the person standing next to them. This can be applied to the audience when viewing Morrisroe’s installation; the person standing next to you may experience something different than what you see in the work.
Riley McBride is majoring in art at Valdosta State University, and is originally from Quitman, Georgia. Riley is focusing on photography and painting.