This quarter I owe my finals week survival to Aaron Smith’s art collection, “Nelsonville Series,” a compilation of paintings and prints of mobile home landscapes set in Nelsonville, Ohio.
Every time I look up from studying my Media Ethics text I am met with glee by the 13 pieces adorning the backroom of the coffee shop. Smith’s series is dynamically arranged from the entrance of the room with images set in daytime, sunlight-drenched views of mobile home-lined streets, to the opposite wall sporting snow-covered lawns and nighttime prints.
By the time your eyes reach the last piece, a snowy driveway with yellow and blue mobile homes, you gain a sense of hope that crosses over from local society to your own ability to overcome the mounds of work you have to peer over just to see the paintings in the first place.
Smith’s artist statement notes that his series is the accomplishment of seven years of work, from 2000-present, and was honored by the OAC Fellowship for excellence in art in 2003. The artist stresses his desire to explore the “use of mobile homes as subject matter.”
“I chose to present images of mobile homes in a very traditional format and medium…landscapes using oils on canvas in a simple rectangle,” Smith’s statement explains. “This forces the viewer to deal with the subject matter in the context of fine arts.”
The subject matter, consisting of Nelsonville neighborhoods only, relates to a population of 5,230 people located in the Athens County city on the Hocking River, according to the 2000 census. For some 2,036 households within the city limits the average family income is $27,122, with 23 percent of those families living below the poverty line.
Smith’s series shows mobile homes “integrated into neighborhoods and in contrast to the rolling hills of the region.” He notes in his statement that he tried not to express a negative bias in the presentation.
I think Smith achieved this goal, judging by the comments I overheard while ignoring my notes. One person commented that the pieces make “beauty out of the mundane,” while others appreciated the uniqueness of the subject matter as something they don’t think of or see every day.
Another friend said that the paintings look like photographs, but at the same time are identifiably paintings. I noticed this the more I focused on the pieces, especially in the brushwork. Smith is meticulous with the springtime scene details of gravel, bricks, and tall grass. I noticed the opposite in the subdued winter settings, with muddled lines between brown grass and snow, this perhaps being a sign that they were created at different times in Smith’s series and at different times in his artistic approach.
Overall, the color and object combination of trucks, trains, trailers, and trees all in a single frame is mesmerizing and is sure to distract many more studiers and Athenians in the coming months. Make sure you stop by if you’re in need of finals week survival or just a regular cup of Joe.
