On Sept. 23, the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts opened three new exhibitions, “Eye Candy” by Victor Bokas, “Degrees of Dissonance” by Annie B. Campbell and “By Heart” by the National Association of Women Artists.
The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts is a non-profit art center located in downtown, Valdosta, offering a wide variety of art experience for the city, including events, classes and exhibits.
The first exhibit, “Eye Candy,” is by Victor Bokas, a native Floridian who draws his inspiration from sunny, warm and fun experiences. His paintings are filled with vibrant and playful colors which make them all the more unique.
“I want to do paintings that make me happy and the bright colors that I’m drawn to are what I enjoy incorporating in my work,” said Bokas.
Some of Bokas’s paintings are energetic while others are a bit more tranquil and contemplative, but his main goal overall is to create work that makes the viewer smile and to find their happy place.
Bokas also enjoys incorporating his Greek heritage into other artworks that he has and is currently working on.
“I do a lot of collage work and digital collages. My nationality is Greek, so I love taking classical Greek statues and putting them in contemporary environments,” said Bokas. “During COVID I actually started a series of digital collages where I had all these statues draped in Luis Vuitton and they all had some kind of face covering.”
Annie B. Campbell, creator of “Degrees of Dissonance” is a ceramic and multimedia sculptor and Associate Professor of Ceramics in the department of Art and Art History at Auburn University.
Campbells artwork include highlighting the connection between human beings and the Earth and how humans unknowingly conduct themselves towards their own demise. Her artworks are separated into three series: A map series, a tree series and a neuron series. Each series addresses environmental issues.
“The tree series was first and that is more ambitious and relates more to the human body and tree forms and environmental degradation in a more broad sense,” said Campbell. “The map series are all depictions of specific events regarding fossil fuel extraction and transportation. The neurology series started in 2017 when I had my first child and we had a rare neurological disorder and the imagery stuck with me, so it is also tied to climate change but in a amorphous way.”
The last exhibition “By Heart,” was created by the National Association of Women Artists. The exhibit includes different artworks from 29 artists.
“Artists of discipline,” said artist Fran Gardner as she described what the association is. “NAWA as we call it, exists to foster awareness of the monumental contribution of women to the history and culture of American art.”
The exhibit shows many styles of artwork from each artist. Some artworks include themes and pieces that the public does not generally see.
“By Heart means this is where our work comes from, its nothing necessarily that we see it’s something that we feel but we are not able to put it in words, so our words become our images and that’s what’s on these walls,” said artist and show coordinator Pat Zalisko.
Executive Director of the Turner Center Sementha Mathews especially enjoyed the exhibits and the diverse and unique styles they brought to the center.
“The exhibits are always different at the center, with this particular exhibit they are all from out of town, but they bring so much to our community with their styles, their way of thinking and the experiences that they’ve had in their life that allow them to create the way that they do,” said Mathews. “Were just so grateful to have a diverse set of women and men who are here to display this beautiful work for us.”
Due to Hurricane Helene, the Turner Center had to close for a brief time, but it has opened again with their regular hours for citizens to look at the exhibits and attend classes.
The exhibits will run until Nov.6.
Written by Jasmine Hightower, Copy Editor. Photos by Jasmine Hightower.