Same Old Paradise
The scene came to her in a vivid dream . A quaint village surrounded by neat rows of citrus trees sheltered by rolling hills . Suddenly , an ominous snake metamorphoses from the road that leads there , shattering the illusion of paradise . “ The inspiration imprinted itself so strongly in my mind that it couldn ’ t be ignored ,” artist Alexis Smith explains .
While Smith produced the mural Same Old Paradise in 1986 for temporary display at the Brooklyn Museum , the serpent motif would continue to appear in her art — and on UC San Diego ’ s campus — in her first Stuart Collection work , “ Snake Path ” in 1992 .
In the meantime , the magnificent 65-foot-long canvas had been curled up in a crate , waiting for a large enough space to make a permanent home for the massive mural . “ Alexis promised that if we could find the space , we could have the painting ,” explains Beebe . When the perfect wall was secured in the lobby of the new auditorium at the North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood now in construction , the mural was shipped to La Jolla and opened for the first time in decades .
As the canvas was slowly unrolled on a warehouse floor off campus , the tears began to fall . “ It was like uncovering a lost treasure ,” says Beebe , “ a work unseen for 30 years , yet still in perfect , pristine condition .” The painting had held up remarkably , yet it alone is not the entirety of the work .
Smith is known for her work in collage , and the mural incorporates eight panels that represent an American road trip , including a license plate , Levi ’ s jacket and car ashtray . Each collage features a quote from Jack Kerouac ’ s novel On the
Road , which served as inspiration for the painting — the title “ Same Old Paradise ” is a reference to the main character , Salvadore Paradise .
Smith describes the work as a “ distilled vision of the promise of the open road and a fruitful land most commonly referred to as the American dream ,” and sees its presence on the UC San Diego campus an ideal case of providence : “ It is particularly important to me that Same Old Paradise has found a beautiful permanent home at UC San Diego , because I had that life-changing dream while visiting San Diego .”
22 TRITON | WINTER 2019