Valdosta National 2024 – Art Criticism

Art Spoken Exhibition Review

by Chelsea Selph

On January 10th, 2023 an exhibition titled “Art Spoken” was opened to the public at Valdosta State University’s Dedo Maranville Gallery. The exhibit, curated by Mark Errol, aims to highlight underrepresented voices. The juror chosen was Olivia Richardson from Northern Virginia. Richardson is mainly a printmaker who focuses on creating artwork that explores her identity as a person of color. That fits right in with the theme of Art Spoken, so Richardson was a good choice for the juror of this show.

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.

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.

Valdosta National 2024: “Art Spoken” Gallery Review

Written By: Torri Byrd

Valdosta State University’s Dedo Maranville Gallery recently hosted their annual showing of “Valdosta National”, an exhibition of work submitted from artists all over the country regarding a similar topic. This year’s theme was due to the cancellation of 2024’s “Art Spoken”, and aimed to merge the two. “Art Spoken” was an event held across campus in different settings that highlighted BIPOC students and artists: emphasizing diversity and racial injustices within the exhibition. “Valdosta National: Art Spoken” had a variety of artists like Larry Sheffield, Seongmin Yoo, Paul C. Blake and others who were representative of BIPOC work. Regardless, as someone who was lucky enough to see one of the prior “Art Spoken” exhibits, I would argue that the “Valdosta National ” though lovely and entertaining, did not have the same impact as the previous “Art Spoken”.

Art Spoken: The Valdosta National Exhibition

Noa-Sage Patrick

The Valdosta National Annual Juried Exhibition is being shown in the Dedo Maranville Gallery on the campus of Valdosta State University. According to the Juror of Art Spoken, Olivia Richardson shared that Art Spoken is, “a show shedding light onto the underrepresented voices and perspectives of artists across the United States and showcasing the talented students at Valdosta State University.”^[1] The exhibition featured artists such as Rick Yasko, Christine Hunt, and Stanley Obert and VSU students such as A’Shadrian Clayton, Vanessa I. Chavez, and Simon Gunnarson.

“Art Spoken -The Valdosta National Exhibition”

By. Valencia Fussell

The Exhibition, “Art Spoken – The Valdosta National ” takes place in Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery in the Fine Arts building from January 10th, to February 9th, 2024. This exhibition occurs annually and showcases contemporary art. It does not limit artists’ choice of media-it encourages art in all forms. “Art Spoken – The Valdosta National Exhibition” is specifically a celebration of African American Arts that occurs annually. When the invite for Art Spoken was first released, it was a call for art that speaks to the power of BIPOC inclusivity, education, and celebration of Black Culture. The Juror of this exhibition is Olivia Richardson. After understanding the intent of the Art spoken Exhibition, readers may be surprised at the content of the juror’s statement. Olivia Richardson does not directly speak on African American Arts, a celebration of Black culture, or BIPOC inclusivity. Instead, she inclines the statement to more general terms of artist perspective, underrepresented voices, and “individualism”. It is important to note that even as she dances around the intended design of the exhibition, she makes a bold statement at the end. The juror references Lebanon and the extreme violence happening in the Middle East. If Olivia Richardson decided to self-censor at the beginning, why be so bold with a statement during the conclusion?

“ART SPOKEN” Exhibition Review

by Katie Holton

What is Art Spoken? Art Spoken is a term that allows artists in minorities, or artists who create things under controversial topics, a chance to showcase their art. An “Art Spoken” exhibition is open from January 10th-February 9th in the Dedo Maranville Art Gallery. The theme for this “Art Spoken” exhibition is a celebration of black art and artists. This was stated on the Gallery’s Instagram page; however, it was stated in the juror’s statement by Olivia Richardson that the exhibition was inclusive to everyone. Therefore, there was a wide range of artists featured in the gallery. One such artist is Aimee Fresia who creates art based on controversial topics, which can be seen on her Instagram page, and her painting Running Away is Always a Possibility was featured in the gallery. There were also artworks by Larry Sheffields, Study of a Kintuar-1, and A’Shadrian Claytons, Eden, who represented the theme of African American artists and art.