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Dignified: A Note on the Project

This essay is a part of the exhibition catalogue for the 2019 show Dignified featuring the photographic works of Patterson Lawson. --- Dorothea Lange once wrote that “While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see...

Dignified: Director’s Introduction

This essay is a part of the exhibition catalogue for the 2019 show Dignified featuring the photographic works of Patterson Lawson. --- There has never been a better time than now to consider the totality of a human life, or to consider well the first to last day of...

Four Horsemen & the Apocalypse: Bomb the Future

This essay is a part of the exhibition catalogue for the 2020 show Four Horsemen & the Apocalypse featuring the painted works of Chino Amobi, Curtis Newkirk, Jr., James Williams, and Josh Williams. --- This past year has made everyone uncomfortable. Back in March...

My Screen Time: Made in the Image of

This essay is a part of the exhibition catalogue for the 2021 show My Screen Time featuring the painted works of Marisa Stratton. --- I met Marisa Stratton in my Open Drawing Studio in Fall 2017. Marisa was quiet but very serious, very focused with an eye and hand...

PLEASERE TURNCART SHERE: Epilogue

This essay is a part of the exhibition catalogue for the 2021 show PLEASERE TURNCART SHERE featuring the photographic works of Nicholas Seitz.  --- We human beings love a story that ends in something being accomplished, and then being made new: the community center...

PLEASERE TURNCART SHERE: Astigmatic Omniscience

This essay is a part of the exhibition catalogue for the 2021 show PLEASERE TURNCART SHERE featuring the photographic works of Nicholas Seitz.  --- You’ve made it this far into this project, you deserve to know at least one secret: the numbering system. Every...

PLEASERE TURNCART SHERE: Please and Thank You

This essay is a part of the exhibition catalogue for the 2021 show PLEASERE TURNCART SHERE featuring the photographic works of Nicholas Seitz.  --- I._PLEASE_____________________ Consider 840 photographs of a shopping cart corral. For any viewer, this might be a big...

PLEASERE TURNCART SHERE: No Better Than Animals

This essay is a part of the exhibition catalogue for the 2021 show PLEASERE TURNCART SHERE featuring the photographic works of Nicholas Seitz.  --- “The shopping cart is the ultimate litmus test for whether a person is capable of self-governing. To return the shopping...

PLEASERE TURNCART SHERE: Art is Hard Work

This essay is a part of the exhibition catalogue for the 2021 show PLEASERE TURNCART SHERE featuring the photographic works of Nicholas Seitz.  --- There is a story that goes around jazz circles about the violent temper of legendary bassist and band leader Charles...

Shockoe Artspace is interested in the pervasiveness of art and design. Our writing focuses on the many ways in which art and design permeate our culture and ranges from reviews and interviews to cultural observation and dialogue. 

If you are interested in writing for Shockoe Artspace, please contact at info(at)shockoeartspace(dot)com. Please include at least one writing sample as well as ideas you have for potential pieces. 

Our Contributors

Sam Bantly Taylor

Sam is a painter, writer, and curator living in Richmond, Virginia.

Ryan Lauterio

Ryan is a painter and educator working in Richmond, Virginia. 

Nikki Painter

Nikki is a Richmond-based painter. Her work has been featured in several galleries and shows throughout the region. 

Garreth Blackwell, PhD

Garreth Blackwell is a designer and a strategist. He is currently an assistant professor at the VCUarts Center for the Creative Economy where he teaches courses in design thinking, innovation and creativity. He has taught design (in its many forms) for more than a decade. When not teaching, Garreth operates Wide Open Air Consulting & Design, a design firm focused on service to customers and clear communication. His clients range from small businesses to international corporations.

He is the co-author of Design Your Own Magazine, a book that deconstructs the process of magazine design into 15 simple steps. He is the co-editor of The Roads of Broken Dreams, the Robert Kennedy Award winning publication about the shrinking communities of the Mississippi Delta. 

Blackwell holds a PhD in Media, Art and Text from Virginia Commonwealth University where his dissertation focused on the changing definitions of goodness and social value within modern design. Blackwell also holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Mississippi where his research focused on entrepreneurial media production.

Nicholas Seitz

Nick is a photographer and videographer based in Richmond, Virginia. 

Josh Williams

Josh Williams is an illustrator, painter, and UX designer living in Richmond, Virginia.