The Valdosta National group exhibition at the Dedo Maranville Gallery in the Fine Arts building did a wonderful job showing the different styles of artists’ works with different mediums and styles used throughout each piece. Not only was I surprised by the variety and distinctions of artworks displayed on the walls of the gallery but there were even sculptures built in such a unique way, giving the viewer more than one way to look at the artists’ piece. The works Square Sun by Nathan Taves and The Garden by Bryce Speed caught my attention the most when looking through the exhibition. It brought up an issue I find amongst many artworks in exhibitions, how judges go about deciding which artwork gets awarded and if there is an appropriate judging criterion they follow in order to make their judgment. In this paper, I will address the issue of judgment, placement and which works I found to be successful and not so successful.
One artwork that captured my interest throughout this exhibition was a piece called Square Sun, an oil on panel by Nathan Taves. There is a dynamic sense of surrealism seen in Taves’ use of colors, placement of angles and a dream-like artistic style. This piece is one I found to be highly successful due to the overall impression it gave, and the creativity and originality depicted as you continue to look at it, making it hard to believe that this artwork was not given an award, not even an honorable mention. When looking at this piece compared to other artworks in the gallery, I questioned why certain works we’re found successful while other’s I found successful were overlooked in comparison. I felt this piece by Taves should have gotten an honorable mention because, compared to many of the other works his piece had more complexity and seemed thought through.
Another piece that also caught my attention in the exhibition was The Garden an oil and acrylic on panel, created by Bryce Speed. In this piece you can see the use of greens and yellow, with random spots of faded brown as though the artist spilled some dark liquid on his piece. This piece did not grab my interest and when first looking at this piece my first thought was that it looked very simplistic, rushed and messy. Speed’s piece The Garden was awarded 1st place in the exhibition and I was confused as to why it was, compared to the pervious piece Square Sun which wasn’t awarded anything. I find it weird that such a simplistic piece was chosen over a piece that offered more to the table such as overall impression, creativity and originally.
One thing I noticed when I walked through the gallery is that many of the artist’s in the exhibition displayed more than one piece. Some of these pieces were placed next to each other, while others were not. It brought up the idea of placement in exhibitions and whether keeping an artists’ piece next to each other or set next to other pieces would change the way the artwork is judged or if the placement works with the overall exhibition. When I first noticed that some of artists’ works were not placed together, it made me wonder for what reason. I felt the idea helped certain pieces out, because while certain artists’ artwork looked well put next to each other, such as Speed’s pieces other artists’ artwork I felt, would have been too distracting placed side by side such as Richards Pruett’s pieces.
Overall, I enjoyed seeing everyone’s works in the show and felt the curators did a good job displaying everyone’s artwork and showing the variety of different styles artist can depict in what they’ve created. This being my first exhibition I ever seen, I believe I learned a lot and I’m glad I got to experience what it would be like to go to an exhibition. I still believe certain artworks such as Square Sun should have gotten more recognition and at least deserved an honorable mention. I wish I was able to get a sense of how the judges went about deciding who got an award so I could better interpret why I felt Square Sun should have gotten an award over The Garden.
Bio: Courtney Green is a senior at Valdosta State University. She studies Art and plans to use her skills to become an artist in the future. Courtney will graduate in May 2019 and wants to pursue her dream as a tattoo artist in her home town of Snellville, Georgia.