Art Criticism – Page 10 – Art reviews written by Valdosta State University students

Finding a Sense of Home Within the Valdosta National 2020 Exhibition

By: Harlee E. Webb

Valerie Aranda, *Caminos/Paths (Mosconi town)*, Acrylic on canvas

This year the 32^nd annual “Valdosta National” All-Media Juried Exhibition was held at Valdosta State University in the Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery. This specific exhibition contained a variety of artwork from all over the country showcasing contemporary visual art from 50 artists representing 25 states. From the ceramics studio down the hall, one could hear the chatter of numerous guests, waiting to enter the gallery. Students covered in paint came fleeing towards the gallery in swaths– so too did men and women in business attire– all of them piling in through the glass door. Having maneuvered my way through the throng, I found myself amongst the menagerie of artwork– some extremely pleasing, and others shocking to behold. This exhibition was diverse in media, style, and subject matter, so much so that it felt overwhelming. The richness of this exhibition served not only to showcase the talents of the artists from 25 states, but also to provoke discourse between those attending.

Bearing Witness: Installations by Margi Weir

By Isabelle Redenius

The current exhibition located in the Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery was created and installed by artist Margi Weir. The exhibition, “Bearing Witness: Installations by Margi Weir,” consists of installations or artworks that revolve around Weir’s personal experiences and opinions which are often political in nature. The exhibition did not have an opening due to Weir’s professional duties as an Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Although there was no opening there will be a closing ceremony for the exhibition, March 6^th, 2020 where Weir will be present to discuss her work.

Bearing Witness: Installations by Margi Weir

By: Marissa Parks

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.

Valdosta National 2020

By Sophia Dong

Dedo Maranville Gallery’s Valdosta National 2020 exhibition presented several distant artists from across the nation. The artworks were judged, and the placement was announced during the opening of the exhibition. Numerous forms of media were present at the gallery. The exhibition received submissions from artists across the nation. Although there were a variety of subjects and media, the gallery’s spacing of the artwork made the gallery appear cohesive. The gallery used white and bland walls to give the artwork proper breathing space where you couldn’t be distracted by other artwork that was presented in the gallery.

Artist Margi Weir: Bearing Witness Solo Exhibition

By Abby Mickler

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

By Shelby Coulter

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.

Taking Your Pain Into Passion

At Valdosta State University, a well commended exhibition is being shown at the Dedo Maranville art gallery. There have been numerous shows, but this show in particular strikes a special type of interest. I say the most because of the theme of the show. All of the works are being shown by the seniors who are art students. There are many pieces that stand out in the art gallery. Violet Ferree stood to bring an amazing showcase to the gallery exhibition.

What made her work much more interesting was the fact that it was not all one medium. There were a variety, and all were developed very well. Walking around to view her work, the work titled “Kindle” by Violet, was what stuck out to be a piece of slight disinterest. I wasn’t a work that stuck me as being visually appealing, even though there were plenty of meanings that went behind it. In her artist statement, she mentions that “her work is a reflection of her emotions and feelings that she continues to work through as a result of traumatic events that she has suffered.”

Violet Ferree, *Kindle*, Oil Painting on Canvas

The work is shown on a canvas, and is done in oil paint. It looked to be 3 holes that were burned through the bottom, but it definitely was intentional. At the bottom of the canvas , there were burnt marks to signify the feeling of being broken. When something is burned, it is damaged, but she is making it into something that was meant to be beautiful. Beautiful in a sense of being torn, and overcoming your situation rather than letting it defeat you.

Looking at the different works of art, my next step was to get the full opinion of the artist, and their perspective directly. I met with Ms. Ferree in the gallery, and we began to discuss her work, and her intentions behind it. Being that “Kindle” was my least favorite, I wasn’t inclined to speak on that particular piece. As we sit down, I ask the first question with a smile. “I’ve looked though a lot of your pieces. What is your favorite medium? I’ve noticed that you’ve used a lot of oil on canvas in comparison to all of your works.” She laughs, and replies with “Yes. I do work mostly with oil. It is my favorite medium to work with.” I can see that it is an interest. My favorite piece of hers was of an oil painting titled “Self Portrait”. What stood out to me was that the shape was recognizable, but the face wasn’t. This spoke volumes of how she was able to get her message across without making any of her features identifiable. “I really liked your piece titled “Self Portrait”. Could you explain a little in depth about your process, and how it was established?” “Sure.”, she replied. “If you look at “Self Portrait” by itself, one might simply think of it as a self-portrait, maybe slightly sad or distant. Without seeing my other work, there might not be any questioning as to why I show this painting. It speaks in a sense of internal pain, and not external. The nakedness of the body is to represent me being completely open and vulnerable.” Taking this into consideration, I did notice that there were no external marks which I could see.

Violet Ferree, *Self Portrait*, Oil Painting on Canvas

We talk a little more about all of her pieces, and my final question comes out to her at the very end of our conversation. “Which is your favorite piece?”, I asked. She responds with, “My current favorite piece is “About Forty: Connected.”. “Why?!”, I quickly respond without realizing it. “It would have to be that this is a milestone for me. This work talks about all of the people that one is connected with. All of the people that are your support when going through challenging times in your life. It is also my favorite because it was challenging for me, and because I feel as if it is the start to something new that I will be pursuing, both in topic and medium.” Hearing this gave me a lot to think about, and opened new doors to a lot of ideas for future works of art. Her work is more relatable and grabs her viewer more in the sense of emotion and meaning rather than aesthetics. With a lot to ponder, I leave the gallery with knowledge of the artist sought after, and a new perspective on what our seniors have to present this year.

From Criminal Justice to Canvas Abstractions: Lisa Taylor’s Exploration Through Art

Lisa Taylor bares her soul in each of her paintings. She creates these scenes of chaos and luster that entice the viewer at first glance. Two of Taylor’s paintings were placed one by one leading up to the big reveal of her series in the main gallery. The first painting was located in the smaller more intimate gallery, where it grabbed my attention immediately. The striking blues and whites combined with the texture encouraged me to get closer and analyze what I was seeing. I loved that all of her work was non-objective. Abstract paintings aren’t shown as often as I would like, so it was a nice change of pace. I wanted to get to know this artist and find out what her paintings meant to her. Continue reading From Criminal Justice to Canvas Abstractions: Lisa Taylor’s Exploration Through Art

The Third Dimension- Pratt Edition

An artist excerpt stemmed from the “Convergence” showing that was exhibited in the Dedo Maranville Gallery at Valdosta State University.

Even from a young age, Sara Pratt was influenced by the natural surroundings where she grew up. The iron-rich clay in the Appalachians was just something that appeared in her daily life. Coming from a large family, creativity, and art was also something that was constantly surrounding her. When her mother was finishing up her Art Education degree at Valdosta State University, one of the classes she took was Ceramics, which was taught by Professor Michael Schmidt. She and her twin sister would go to class with their mother sometimes, which led her to feel so curious and fascinated that a material she grew up playing with could be transfigured into fine art.

Image of Sara Pratt- the artist — Portrait of Sara Pratt

Pratt and her twin sister were born in Ocala, Florida. They moved around quite a lot with their mother. Despite all of the moves, living in north Georgia with their maternal grandparents is where Pratt considers her home to be. She said that traveling back and forth between families in Georgia and Florida caused a hectic upbringing for them, but it created who she is today. Her mother is the youngest of ten, so she says that “there was a plethora of artists, good memories, and love to go around”. Continue reading The Third Dimension- Pratt Edition

Senior Show Exhibition

At the Dedo Art Gallery in Valdosta, the Senior Exhibition for the Valdosta State Seniors of the Fine Arts Bachelor Program had there Grand Finale. The Coup De Gras, the seniors held their exhibition, for the faculty of the Fine Arts program to show the accomplishments of their journey during the time spent as a student at Valdosta State. The show was to represent the skills developed and how they have grown as artist, but moreover as people. The students showed a variety of skills ranging from drawing to sculpture. The show was nothing short of fascinating to the viewer’s eye, as the viewers were able to witness a broad range of skill and artworks. The gallery was structured well, along with easy access to the artists in the show to ask questions, and the overall gallery had many successful artworks.

Throughout the gallery, there were many artist with a multitude of artworks by each person. The gallery was set up very well, allowing for the viewer to go based on size and subject matter. The artist do not have all of the works they presented together, but are spread out, but the spacing helps to give balance for the eyes. The works hung from the walls and stood on pedestals, allowing to viers to be able to walk around and be entertained at every corner. It is almost like the gallery had significant form, allowing the gallery to appeal to the eyes, not giving way to boredom.

A strength of the gallery was the ability to be able meet with the artist, and converse over the works to be able to gain understanding of their works and contributions within the gallery. During this meeting, I met with Caitlin Sanders, and conversed over her works. She predominantly worked with encaustic paintings and sculpture, as she works from emotions and from a repeated shapes, drawing on her experiences from being younger. She states, “Patterns repeated shapes, textures and exciting colors play a majority role throughout my designs”, which backs that she constantly looks for the design aspects such as the ones stated above.Encaustic Painting is done by using beeswax with pigment added to create color then applied to the prepared surface. Sanders had Encaustic Paintings, all three labeled Encaustic 1, 2 or, 3, were based on the the flow of paint, over the organic like shapes. Caitlin stated, “It is not about the shapes, but the flow of the paint, which showed the emotion, and conveyed the thoughts”. It is to allow the emotion to escape and be free. The color choices were ones such as blues and greens. The blues representing the sadness that she feels that all artist deal with. The blues being her favorite colors to work with. She also used a green which is the least ideal color to her to work with. She does not like colors of green and how green aesthetically looks.

In her sculptures, the pieces were about being functional and having the repeating patterns. She worked from, as she stated- “geometric, repeating shapes, in which some inspiration can be drawn from other cultures that use repetition in the artworks, like the islamic mosaics.” One of her known shapes is the triangle, in which she works with on her Table piece, which on the top used triangular shapes.

Overall the Dedo Gallery Senior Show was full of wonderful artist, and in respect showed a even greater journey through the Fine Arts Program of Valdosta State. Caitlin is an artist that works from emotions and patterns to produce her works, which had strong compositions and great color choices. The sculptures had significant form, which kept the viewer’s eyes busy as the sculptures were observed from all sides. The encaustics were engaging, using monochromatic schemes, but were strong in the manners of how the colors worked together to convey emotions. The colors worked together, and helped to bring the composition together, as the pattern that the colors were place helped move the eyes up and down the piece, along with the dripping technique. The Gallery was presented well, with a easy to observe set up, allowing for the eyes to move freely, and the artist were easy to access, and gain knowledge on the processes and why they made their art. Lastly, the gallery was not shy in the pieces used and it allowed for a great display.

Andrew Pack is a Art Education Major in the Fine Arts Department of Valdosta State University. He was born in Savannah, Georgia and lives in Macon, Georgia. His artwork revolves around faith and struggle. Human strife is a major part of life, and having dealt with depression; he uses it as the fuel for his artwork. He draws from personal experiences such as sports that he played such as football and track, along with the enjoyment of the outdoors. The last inspiration is from faith.