April 2024 – Art Criticism

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.

The Divisive Exhibition: Playing It Too Safe

By Amy Graham

The “Art Spoken Show” was created to give a voice to artists that are suppressed from mainstream art at Valdosta State University. Diversity and inclusion like the Art Spoken Show have been discouraged and suppressed over the past year because of government laws and political issues. The Valdosta National is an annual show done in Valdosta that calls for art from all over the country. The artwork is then judged by a juror and the top three earn a prize based on ranking. This year the show was supposed to be about Black culture and experiences. Valdosta National and Art Spoken were combined this year to speak out against legislation from the government that has been put in place to suppress inclusion of the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities.

Memories

Memories

By Iliana Liborio-Navidad

Gabby Fogarty said, “I am tired of crappy merchandise when I go on tours. I can make my own.” Fogarty is one of the seven seniors who presented at the senior art exhibition Spectrum. She was born and raised from Valdosta, Georgia and she currently finishing up her BFA major and minor in psychology. Fogarty’s art medium of interest is digital art, but she also creates colleges. Fogarty often looks at digital art, more specifically fan art and believes digital art is an accessible art medium. The content Fogarty watched such as anime, manga, and YouTube inspired her to draw. A youtuber who influenced her was Jazza, who used to be known as Drawing with Jazza. Jazza created content that involved art challenges and then ventured out into creating art courses and art boxes. Fogarty stated that Jazza is one of the reasons she wanted to improve as an artist and try as many art mediums as possible.

Adjani “AJ” Williams at VSU’s 2024 Spectrum Senior Exhibition

Written By: Torri Byrd

The artist standing besides his ten displayed artworks. — (Adjani “AJ” Williams Pictured with his work)

Adjani “AJ” Williams is a 21-year-old senior at Valdosta State University, originally from College Park, GA. Williams works in multimedia and chose to display a variety of different styles of art in this exhibition. His works are divided between photography, oil painting, and encaustic, but all reflect the same overall motive. When I asked Williams to describe his work in one word, he chose “evocative”, and explained that all of the things he displays are reflective of some kind of ego death. Ego death is in reference to the rebirth of a person from self reflection. Williams summed it up his ego death as having “a renewed focus on painting what I feel- painting ideas or concepts that I cannot explain with words.”