Austin-based artist Joe Smiley returns to his hometown of Meridian, Mississippi with Alphabets, a new solo exhibition opening April 17 at Aces Gallery.

The exhibition features a series of small ink works on paper that resemble fragments of an invented writing system. Built from rows of abstract, hand-drawn symbols, the compositions evoke the structure and visual authority of language while remaining open-ended and undeciphered. Created using acrylic ink applied by eyedropper, the marks are fluid, immediate, and subtly varied—suggesting an internal logic that feels just out of reach.

Both playful and conceptually driven, Alphabets explores how meaning is constructed through marks that are, at their core, arbitrary. The works read like pages from a lost archive, hinting at an imagined civilization and an emerging language still in formation.

This exhibition marks the beginning of a longer-term project for Smiley: the development of a personal, constructed language system that invites close looking and interpretation.

Alphabets will be on view April 17–18, 2026. An opening reception will be held on Friday, April 17 from 7–9 PM at Aces Gallery in Meridian, MS, with an artist talk scheduled to begin at 8 PM.