By: Meagan Howard
The “Valdosta National” exhibition at the Valdosta State University Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery displayed artists from all over the country. The selection process for this exhibit was rigorous, with 406 works of art from 146 different artists from 35 states in the United States all submitting their art to be selected. 52 works of art by 50 different artists were invited to have their art put on display at this exhibition. The atmosphere of this exhibit was calm and relaxing. Many viewers knew one another already so it was a very friendly environment; people were laughing and viewing the art in a calm way. These works were all spaced out well and were not cluttered in the placing of each work. When I walked into this exhibit, I was handed a list of each artwork and the selling price for that piece. This brought an additional perspective into this process; being able to judge the work for myself and being able to see what these artists thought their art was worth was a new viewpoint.
I personally agreed with most of these prizes that were awarded the opening of the “Valdosta National”, but there were some that I did not foresee receiving the correct award. The two artworks that I observed the most conversation about throughout the exhibit were Conveyor of Justice by Ramayana Baba, and A Pop Song Playing Really Loudly by Sarah Kennedy. Neither of these artworks were given high ranking awards throughout the night, and I believe that they should have received higher, if not the highest, awards of the night.
The biggest surprise to me of the night was that Baba’s work did not receive first place, or even receive any award at all. This work had the most descriptive and clear-cut symbolism of any work that was shown that night, and sparked conversations about current events by its viewers. Conveyor of Justice shows a machine conveyor belt that on one side has a line of African American men all in different colored clothes, and on the other side of the machine has those same men coming out in prison jumpsuits. There is only one way to move on this conveyor belt and it represents how the prison system unfairly discriminates against African American men, almost setting them up for failure from the beginning. The craftsmanship of the ceramic pottery itself was beautiful, and the colors that were chosen for it were pastel, joyful colors, that contrasted with the symbolism of the piece itself. Because of the intense social commentary of this piece, it was surprising to see the bright pastel colors chosen for it; this could have been done to show how the unfair prison system is being covered up by a different image.
A Pop Song Playing Really Loudly was another work that I observed many conversations from viewers about. It showed a picture of two women smiling, a cutout picture of a smiling mouth placed above them, a half circle of tin foil placed above that, and finally a hand drawn image of a three-dimensional chair and table below that. These were all placed on top of a white background and put into a brown wood frame. Because of its title and the way the work was created many people were asking their friends what song they thought of when they saw this work. It truly did the first job that an artwork should do, which is to inspire a feeling in the viewer. This work not only inspired a feeling, but also started conversations that could have been had with a stranger that night. The work was a nice break from the serious tone of most of the other artworks shown, and simply made the viewer feel something good. I thought the scrapbook style of construction for this piece made it all the better. The title of the work really tied the piece together nicely as a whole for me. When I first saw this piece, the song that came to my mind was “Sunflower, Vol. 6” by Harry Styles. The song in mention here just brings out a sense of happiness and joy that is a similar feeling when you look at this artwork. You cannot help but smile when you hear the lyrics and the same feeling is what the artist is trying to convey in this piece. After I realized what song this artwork made me think of, I interviewed others at the exhibition and asked what songs that they had thought of when they saw this. This was one way that A Pop Song Playing Really Loudly made audience members come together and really discuss how an artwork made them feel.
Meagan Howard is a graduating senior with a BFA in Interior Design at Valdosta State University. She plans to work at a commercial interior design firm after she graduates this upcoming May.