The title "Mismatch" rings a discordant note for an exhibition by two artists who are husband and wife, as is the case with Eliseo Casiano and Abigail Smithson.
The term, as Historic Arkansas Museum explains, has nothing to do with any marital tension. The show, on display until May 21, instead aims to be "a celebration of everything that doesn't quite fit. In a culture that often rewards similarity, 'Mismatch' serves as a reminder that the adage 'opposites attract' delivers metaphorical and objective wisdom — the strongest bonds form between things that are different."
Casiano was born of Chicano heritage in rural Oklahoma. Smithson grew up in California's Bay Area. They connected at Louisiana State University, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts in 2017 and he did the same the following year. Now they live in Batesville, where she is a Lyon College visiting assistant professor of art. He works as gallery manager for Batesville Area Arts Council while teaching part time at Lyon.
In their paired presentation on the second floor of the Little Rock museum, the couple "record lived experiences as they visualize them through paintings, drawings and alternative photography methods. They share a deep reverence for the importance of friends, family and ancestors, and how those relationships become enmeshed over time. Though they sometimes explore similar concepts, the contributions that emerge through their artistic practices are unique to each person."
First impressions of their artistic contrasts may focus on the very different use of color. Casiano's art brims with vivid hues up and down the spectrum. Smithson works mainly in black and white tinged with gray. Their instincts are clearly divergent, but it turns out that they know how to mesh creatively.
The most elaborate of Casiano's paintings, "Spectrum Series," displays 12 panels of human faces. The visages are colored in bright shades of orange, green, blue, purple and red. Each bears a seemingly nonsensical title: "Butter Dish," "Maker," "Drum Key," "Window Seat," "Brick," "From the Picture," "Apple Cider Vinegar," "Postcards," "Barber Shop," "Cumin," "Graphite," "Painter's Painter."
One Smithson image in black-and-white reflects her interest in basketball. Titled "My Great Grandfather Coach," it pictures a team labeled "Omaha Y.M.C.A." — nine players in uniform and a figure (probably the coach) in suit and tie.
Three of the show's 20-plus images, mostly done in mixed media, represent the couple's collaboration. Two are brightly colored in Casiano's style, with whimsical titles reflecting Smithson's sports interest: "A Basketball Net as a Way to Remember" and "A Basketball Net Is a Mountain, a Skyscraper, a Grave Marker and a Flower." The third, white on a dark background, hints at her muted technique. Titled "Particles," it looks like a cut-down basketball net.
On the museum's ground floor, a fresh feature has been added to the "Conspicuous Consumption" permanent exhibit of upscale objects that were owned by Arkansans during the 19th-century Victorian period.
The new wrinkle, called "Hidden Histories: An Exhibit Within an Exhibit," offers lesser-known facts related to a half-dozen of the items on display. A handsome beaver-fur hat lined with green silk now includes this "hidden" information:
"As the Victorian middle class grew in number, their desire to imitate elite classes meant that more men and women sought to adorn themselves with bird feathers and beaver pelts. But fashion is not solely to blame for the decline and extinction of once plentiful animals — the prevailing attitude that nature's resources were inexhaustible often dealt the mortal blow."
Historic Arkansas Museum
- Address: 200 E. Third St., Little Rock
- Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m, Tuesday-Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday
- Admission: Free
- Information: HistoricArkansas.org or call (501) 324-9351