O: The Other Side

Two Upstate artists known as THEMADDDARTIST and SadGod will present O: The Other Side, a socially aware, paint and digital fusion art exhibition at Artists Collective | Spartanburg Nov. 3-28.

Two Upstate Artists Present Socially Aware Exhibition at Artists Collective | Spartanburg

Upstate artists known as THEMADDDARTIST and SadGod will present O: The Other Side, a paint and digital fusion art exhibition at Artists Collective | Spartanburg Nov. 3-28.

Roderice Cardell (THEMADDDARTIST) is a member of the Collective, a resident of Spartanburg, and his medium for this show is mostly digital collages. Evan Givens (SadGod) is a guest artist, a resident of Greenville, and his medium is photography. 

Two Upstate Artists Present Socially Aware Exhibition at Artists Collective | Spartanburg

From THEMADDDARTIST’s perspective, the important message of the exhibit is “Frustration, it happens to us all. Pain, physically and mentally it can take a toll on an individual’s personal ability to operate in society. It’s something we don’t show enough face to face. We have disconnected so much due to advances in technology we have disconnected from the human touch. We don’t talk about these issues and we now rely on algorithms from our social media platforms to control the world’s narrative and how we see others. With the current state of our society, we are seeing more stories such as Covid-19, unemployment, police brutality, and racially fueled situations just to name a few. These events have seemed to divide our country even more. How is your mental state?”

Upstate artists known as THEMADDDARTIST and SadGod will present O: The Other Side, a paint and digital fusion art exhibition at Artists Collective | Spartanburg Nov. 3-28.

Roderice Cardell (THEMADDDARTIST) is a member of the Collective, a resident of Spartanburg, and his medium for this show is mostly digital collages. Evan Givens (SadGod) is a guest artist, a resident of Greenville, and his medium is photography. Their joint exhibition is thematically about the human experience with emphasis on acceptance, struggling, frustration, and technology. Each artist has five works in the exhibit, as well as five works that they created together. The art will be for sale, starting at $150.

“This exhibit is going to open some eyes,” the Collective’s Vice Chair Nancy Williamson said. “It is very nontraditional and very socially aware. Through their work, they address a great many social issues that this country is now facing. It also addresses personal issues, things that we all can relate to. Roderice’s work is often flamboyant with lots of color and collage-like images. I find Evan’s photos to be very emotional, often sensual. As an experienced artist, I find the work by these two young men to be very honest and inspiring. I applaud how they have used their talents to find beauty where it exists and to depict emotion in their work.”

“I want others to see that our individual lives intertwine in so many ways,” THEMADDDARTIST said. “We are no different from the next person. We either have dealt with situations ourselves or know someone that has. We are ONE, we feel, we move, all to the same beat, but so many of us think it’s a solo performance. We cannot operate that way. What you do affects the next person. We all need to heal.”

“I want to capture the essence of life, everyone struggles, everyone loves. We as people are whole,” SadGod said.

THEMADDDARTIST is a graduate of Winthrop Univeristy with a bachelor’s degree in theater performance. Since 2015, he has been on his “MaDDD World Tour.” He has participated in several art exhibitions, festivals, and special events mostly in the Upstate but also in Charlotte and Tryon, NC. He is a mostly self-taught visual artist working in the mediums of collage, oil, acrylic, pastels, and photography. He has experience as a social media consultant, brand consultant, social media media content creator, and web designer. He is creative director for his own brand, THEMADDDARTIST.

He describes himself as “I am TheMadddArtist! I’m a performing visual artist, as well as an activist who expresses himself through music, dance & paint. Through my performances, I let my art tell a story. The paintings that I do live are the backgrounds to my future pieces.”

SadGod is a 25-year-old fine arts photographer and poet from Detroit, MI, based in Greenville, SC. Introduced to photography at the Governor’s School of the Arts and Humanities, he became obsessed with the art of photography and what a camera can do. His focus is centered around nostalgia, emotional bonds, and moving through trauma. His work inspires motivation and empowerment through exploring the mind, body, and soul. He is capable of capturing humanity in its most raw and pure form, touching base on difficult subjects such as depression. He is successful in depicting adversity, shame, love, passion, and fusing these intense emotions together through a tinted lens sequentially telling a story through mise en scène and color theory.

It took SadGod three months to complete his portion of this exhibition and said he was inspired by “gain, loss, and perspective.” The most important concept to know about this exhibit is “It’s okay to be you, we all struggle, we all are perfectly flawed,” he said.