By Ben Davis / The Jambar
Until Oct. 3, the Judith Rae Solomon Gallery at Bliss Hall will display the works of Ron Copeland in an exhibition called “Fragmented Narrative: Language of the Sign.”
Copeland had previously reached out to Claudia Berlinski, art director at the John J. McDonough Museum of Art, about having a display at Youngstown State University.
“He inquired with me about doing an exhibition and I said that, ‘This would be great to open the semester with,’” Berlinski said. “It was like a nice, punchy installation of artwork for the students to come in and get excited about.”
The exhibit tells the stories of old communities with faded storefront lettering, rusted gas pumps and assemblages of hand-painted signs.
Copeland’s style has been described as post-industrial, reclaiming and repurposing old industrial material. His creations allow his work to hearken back to the Rust Belt’s history in American manufacturing.
Copeland said that his upbringing in Canton significantly impacted his artistic expression.
“There was so much signage,” Copeland said. “It just sort of seemed like an aspect of my community that was very normal to see two-story tall, neon motel signs at night, and like a story-tall candy cane, and aspects of what once was Mother Goose Land, like the big whale and this roadside kind of signage of the past.”
In his work, Copeland said he likes to capture the sense that nothing lasts forever — influenced by his memories of Canton.
“It seemed like it was a natural part of my environment, but at some point, even before I was interested in becoming an artist, I realized that it was more fleeting than I ever realized,” Copeland said.
Copeland said he also tried to capture authenticity in his pieces. He has driven along the back roads of multiple states across the country and photographed different locations he passed by.
“Each place still looks like America, but there’s this individualized history that, technically, is fleeting — mom-and-pop shops, corner stores and non-franchised gas stations — and these places that once made-up people’s livelihoods or their heritage,” Copeland said. “Preserving some aspect of that regional culture, whether it be in Iowa or Ohio or Pennsylvania or Texas, is very important to me.”
Copeland said he drew on his own family’s history from the small railroad town of Blissfield for inspiration.
“The piece behind me is a very specific piece,” Copeland said. “The Blissfield General Store was a real place that my great grandfather ran.”
Blissfield effectively dried up when automobiles replaced trains as the most common means of transit, Copeland said he attempted to preserve a small part of it.
Berlinski said she believes that Copeland’s work is more approachable for students.
“A lot of students maybe have a hard time relating to the kind of artwork you see in maybe an art history museum,” Berlinski said. “I think to have something more contemporary right on campus here that is easily accessible to them — it would be great.”
The exhibition is free and open to all YSU students, faculty and staff.