By Logan Dotson
The solar eclipse was not the only spectacle that happened on August 21, 2017. Valdosta State University kicked off the semester with its first opening of the academic year in the Dedo Maranville gallery by showcasing the faculty’s artwork. This incredible exhibition is an amazing starting point for the semester, as it allows the students and visitors of VSU to view the personal works that the art and design professors have spent time creating and researching. This opening is also important for students as well, as it shows the students examples of exploration of style and skill within the mediums their professors teach.
The gallery opening was full, with students and teachers conversing with one another, creating a very lively mood. Upon entering the gallery, you see the art faculty’s artwork spaced evenly throughout the gallery, with both 2-D and 3-D pieces. The pairing of artworks was well thought out, as black and white pieces are paired with colored works, paintings with sculptures, and photographs with drawings. The mediums are diverse and not clustered together, which was refreshing. The setup of the gallery allowed a smooth transition from piece to piece allowing the viewers to flow through the gallery no matter the entrance used.
The walls of the gallery were filled with beautiful and interesting artwork. The first piece that caught my eye peered at me before I even entered the gallery. Your eyes lock with this highly rendered piece, as you slowly lose yourself tracing every detail of the scene that is depicted; before you know it, you are inches in front of the piece inspecting every nook and cranny. Sean Hurley’s Piece, ‘Studio Sink, Johnson, VT’ is so controlled with its values depicted so sharply with charcoal that you can place yourself right into the scene that’s been depicted.
A doorway is shown to the left of the piece with its door halfway open, but because of the perspective, the door is just a white line. Inside the room we can see two sinks and some cleaning materials, while a dark room peeks out on the right. The openness of the room and the two doorways open gives off an odd vibe. The darkness that waits at both doors gives off an offsetting and eerie mood. The room doesn’t seem pleasant, and I’m left uncomfortable thinking of what that darkness the carries. Even if I’m left slightly unsettled, I still am able to continue looking at the piece and enjoy the craftsmanship.
Another piece in the gallery that caught my eye was Richard Peterman’s Ignem Aeternum, a unique 3-d sculpture, that was mounted on the wall.
This sculpture was half a sphere mounted on black wood; on the sphere are hundreds of single matches evenly spaced along the surface. Some area of the sculpture is left bare creating an implied line of several flowing spirals that direct the viewers eyes all around this 3-D piece. The matches on this sculpture create a multidimensional artwork where the red tops of the matches create a whole new visual layer. When inspected closer, the sculpture slowly changes because there is no true focal point, and thus it creates a free-flowing form. I really enjoyed Peterman’s piece. However, this piece, showcases a certain feeling, a certain anxiety. I believe this piece represents fragility: setting one match off would set off the surrounding matches off as well. Soon the sculpture would be engulfed in flames, and although that would make for fun performance art, it would destroy the sculpture. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see this thing set on fire. But, the idea of fragileness is what really makes the piece interesting and I think the sculpture represents the quickness of life. One moment everything can be structured, orderly, even beautiful, and then the next thing you know, it’s gone. One event can totally unravel everything someone’s worked on. Peterman’s sculpture puts us right before this “breaking” point. However, these sculptures are not focused on the future, but instead the present. Its focus is beauty, not fear. The anxiety it gives off is our fear of the future, and the fear of things to come.
After viewing the gallery, Dr. Pierce, the Dean of Valdosta State’s College of Arts gave a speech thanking the art faculty for their hard work. During his speech, he announced that they will now be named the department of Art and Design. He also announced that the student gallery will now be named the Martha G. Smart student gallery, where there was an opening for a student showing called, “Sara(h)mics”, where two students named Sara/Sarah show off their ceramics work. At the end of the speech, Mr. Pierce announced that these two students received scholarships, thanks to the Stuart family’s new scholarship. What a great ending for such a spectacular night!
Logan Dotson will be graduating from Valdosta State University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Spring 2018. He is studying Graphic and illustration, with hopes of acquiring a digital illustration job in the future.