Geoffry Smalley re-creates the melodrama and opulence of Rococo painting through abstraction and obfuscation. On its surface, Rococo art and design is gold, white, grand, ridiculous, gaudy, asymmetrical, ornate, obsessive, flowery, self-indulgent, self-motivated, excessive, and all about the pursuit of happiness. In its showy displays of utterly overgrown ornament, the Rococo stands as art history's flamboyant and independent sibling, getting by on looks and personality alone.

It is in this air that Smalley draws parallel lines leading to the world of NASCAR. On a simply visual level, there are similarities in the overwhelming visual stimulus of both NASCAR and the Rococo. Upon deeper analysis, Smalley finds excess without means, worlds where the classes are disparate and exclusive and the facade can't seem to last. Floating between these two worlds, one will find many metaphors for the current of today's American life, where the pursuit of happiness dominates the realities of one's surroundings.

Despite harsh times driving news cycles and peoples' psyches, television promotes shows about chefs cooking for dogs, Wall Street executives are still receiving huge payouts, and we drive more than we ever have, even for leisure.