In her artist statement Margi Weir talks about how her body of work, The Politics of Hue, is not meant to change anyone’s opinion on the chosen socio-political topic. Rather, Weir wants viewers to leave questioning their own thoughts. This exhibition, located at the Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery in Valdosta, Georgia, like many of her work, has underlying meaning to it. All the works presented in the gallery involved Weir’s response to and engagement with the world around her. Her works are visually inviting to the viewer. The repetitive patterns and bold color make viewers wonder how deep the symbolism goes behind her pieces. Many of her works are based around the idea of textiles, or rather stitching together digital patterns to make them visually appealing. She brings these ideas to life by using acrylic, Plexiglas, and vinyl.
Attending the Dedo Maranville gallery exhibition “Bearing Witness”, visitors could possibly walk in on live debates over social issues within American economics and politics. The discussion always started on the walls and stretched around the entire gallery space connected from piece to piece. Margi Weir is the artist behind the work, and claims she’s had a myriad of different reactions from audiences since the series began, but one thing she’s always experienced is the impact. Weir’s work revolves around social constructs, governing ideology, racism, environmental issues and almost anything that has sculpted the American people over the past century into who we are, what we do and why we do it. The answers are all the same: we’re not doing enough.
Walking
into “Bearing Witness: Installations by Margi Weir” tension is already present
before even processing the work. The floor is barren, except for a few low
benches for viewing. The bright lights amplify the empty distance between the
walls. Confrontational, bright, reflective artworks on plexiglass, bleed out onto
the walls with vinyl cutouts that mimic the patterns present in the works. The
complicated patterns are reminiscent of a shiny, busy wrapping paper design. It
takes a moment to take in the artworks individually to break them down.
Walking into the Dedo
Maranville Fine Arts Gallery located on the Valdosta State University Campus,
audiences will be greeted with a splash of different colors from the
“Bearing Witness” gallery installations by Margi Weir. These
installations take color and combine everything that is symbolized in modern
culture by that color and collage them into one beautifully designed acrylic
painted piece. Weir also uses the acrylic paintings to create awareness as well
beyond just the colors creating one large piece that is equivalent to 3 of her
normal-sized large canvases. Vinyl images merged to create this one stunning
piece that is so large it fills up one whole wall of the gallery. This
exhibition combines many ideals, so if viewers do not agree with one color and
its symbols, there are up to eight colors, including Red, Blue, Green, Yellow,
Black, White, Purple, and Orange, so that everyone can relate to something in
this exhibition. The stories and awareness that Weir provides are modern
culture. The execution of each piece is very detailed in each work presented.
Margi Weir, Justice in America, 2016, acrylic on canvas, surrounded by vinyl
Valdosta State University’s Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery has opened up a new exhibition, called “Bearing Witness”, showcasing Margi Weir’s social political artworks. The show officially opened on the 17th of February and will end on March 6th. The artworks collectively shed light on subjects from social injustice to eco-sustainability. Weir’s works show the violence of these problems in the form of beautiful visuals, and it is evident that she has a passion to voice her concerns for these subject matters.
Weir, Better Red, 2017, acrylic on Plexiglas Panel
The gallery is left very open. The walls are covered in
intricate, detailed black wall decals of silhouettes of fencing, birds, and
even flying hand guns. These guns are just that, silhouettes of hands guns with
wings attached, pinned to the wall, appearing as if they are flying around the
exhibition. Laying on top of or next to these details are large paintings. In
the center of the gallery are several, cushioned benches inviting the viewers
to sit back, relax and enjoy the artwork, and some do. From either side of the
bench is a fair amount of distance from the pieces on the wall, allowing the
audience to appreciate the large works in its entirety. This accessibility to
comfort in the galley encourages viewers to stick around. The Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery in
Valdosta, Georgia presents “Bearing Witness: Installations by Margi Weir.” Weir
travels from Detroit, Michigan to exhibit her controversial work. It’s clear
that Weir has an opinion and is very direct with the delivery of expressing her
views.
Weir, Blue is Not a Neutral, 2017, acrylic on Plexiglas panel
The piece Blue is Not a Neutral stands out
specifically, not only because of its vibrant blue color, for the content of
the piece. She repeats the use of silhouettes from the decals on the wall into
this painting, but in this case, it is the silhouettes of four officers
standing side by side wielding batons. Their stance and body language suggest
they are prepared for attack, not defense. They do not have their arms up
shielding themselves in defense, but by their sides as if they’re unthreatened.
The word “Police” is clearly displayed across the figure’s chest in white font.
The line of officers stands in front of a gradient, blue brick wall. Hanging
above the officers is a blue, first place ribbon. Weir is clearly trying to
convey and imply that law enforcement will never see themselves as equals to
civilians, in fact, that they act as if they are superior and use their
authority against common folk. She makes another bold statement with her
painting titled Gold Standard. In the piece are icons of gold stars, the
Oscar awards and the iconic, golden McDonald’s arches. Weir implies that
society sets the gold standard and uses it as a way to brainwash people into
thinking what is “good” or the “gold standard.” In her piece Better Red Than
Dead she compares a devil to a priest using a red color palette. There are
red stop signs, hearts and lips surrounding the two figures. These symbols
suggest that the church is just as bad as the devil and hinting at sexual
misconduct and abuse within the church.
All of Weir’s pieces are powerful and convey a strong
message. She’s not afraid to stand up for what she believes in and is strong in
sharing her views on what is right and what is wrong, regardless of the stir it
may cause. She confidently expresses her feelings while visually communicating
topics that are normally hard to talk about.
The solo exhibition that was recently housed in the Dedo Maranville Gallery at Valdosta State University is one in which artist, Margi Weir, presents some of her works that depict issues and trends within our society today, mostly the negative aspects. Weir’s exhibition is entitled “Bearing Witness”, which seems appropriate considering the context and subject matter of her pieces.
“Bearing Witness: Installations by Margi Weir” was yet another successful one at Valdosta State University located at the Dedo Maranville Gallery in the Fine Arts Building on campus. The exhibition deals with the more serious issues in our society today, including political and racial issues.
Margi Weir’s “Bearing Witness” at Valdosta State University’s Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery
The walls of Valdosta State University’s Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery are currently covered by an overwhelming array of color and decorative pattern that invites discussion on today’s sociopolitical realities. These walls hold “Bearing Witness,” a bold exhibition that includes installations by Margi Weir, an artist and professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. “Bearing Witness” features work from three of Weir’s recent series that include topics that are personal and political. Her work involves “blurring—but not hiding—the socio-political and ecological themes in her pieces,” according to Weir’s artist biography. Weir’s exhibit opened February 17th and will close March 6th, 2020, after Weir presents her artist talk at noon.
