By Zack Di Zillo
The latest exhibition held at the Dedo Maranville art gallery at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia entitled, Cute and Creepy, was a very exciting show for me to go see. Pop Surrealism has always been a favorite of mine and I was very much looking forward to this show all semester long. The show did not disappoint. Currated by Carrie Ann Baade, artist and associate professor at Florida State University, the layout of each work and how each artist was scattered throughout the gallery made it extremely easy to walk around and keep walking around without getting bored of a specific section in the gallery. The artists that were chosen to exhibit their works in this show came from all over the country and each artist, while all being pop surrealist artist, all had their own different styles and approaches to their works. One artist in particular that I’d love to dive into is Chris Mars.
Mars had multiple oil paintings displayed throughout the gallery and it was very easy for me to be able to identify his works. His paintings by far were the ones I was most drawn to in the gallery. I found myself going back and forth to each of his paintings and admiring the intricate detail work that he does.
His paintings almost told a story and had a narrative behind them, rather than just being portraits of some creepy person or creature, like other works in the show. What really drew me to Mars’ works was the similarities that I saw in his works and the works of my favorite artist, Mark Ryden. Ryden has been a favorite of mine for quite some time now and I immediately thought of him when looking at Mars’ works. They both have very unique, different styles of painting, but the detail and narrative behind their paintings are very similar. Ryden also uses very ornate frames for his paintings just like Mars does in his work, Reconstruction Machine, in this exhibition.
Paintings were not the only thing on display at the Cute and Creepy show. There were also many 3D works on display that dazzled in the spotlight just as much. Jessica Joslin, an artist from Chicago, Illinois had a few of her grotesque animal skeleton looking sculptures on display. Joslin’s sculptures are very interesting and cool to look at. They almost look mechanical yet realistic, almost like you’re looking at the inside skeleton of a toy animal and a real life animal combined, very interesting and very original. She’s definitely an artist I would love to go see again in the future.
There was not one aspect of this show that I did not enjoy, from the wide variety of styles and the wide variety of paintings to 3D works, the show even had an animated work on a screen for you to check out. Pop Surrealism showed up and showed out at Valdosta State Universities, Dedo Maranville art gallery.
Zack Di Zillo is a senior at Valdosta State University studying Fine Arts with an emphasis in Graphic Design.