by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
The Gallery at Screen Arts is a gallery that gives far more than this town deserves. They are always showcasing world-class artists from all over the country right alongside locals such as Mark George and Ian Chase. St. Augustine might seem like a drive, but when you walk into the modern art that is Screen Arts, you will realize it was worth it.
And that’s before you even see the art.
Among the standards at Screen Arts seems to be the showing of artists that are not classicly trained and have a rock and roll element to their work. Derek Hess is no exception to that standard. Hess dropped out of art school and got work booking for a club in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. While most flyers for rock shows were being made with graphics programs and computers, Hess decided to make his the old fashioned way; he drew them. It didn’t take long for his frenetic lines and insightful approach to his subjects to garner him some deserved attention.
Hess’ art has a gesture drawing style that creates a jittery sketch that is alive and self-aware. He usually focuses on characters, sometimes people and sometimes animals, and his shaky repeating lines give the character a sense of uncertain and unfocused energy. Musicians such as Helmet, R.L. Burnside, and more recently, Motion City Soundtrack have grabbed on to that style and used it to represent the kinetic ideal of their music.
Between a national feature in Newsweek in 1994 and some internationally released album covers, Hess became nationally known and his work was suddenly in demand. From drawing flyers for shows he was promoting to seeing those very posters framed in galleries, the transition must have been intimidating.
In 2000 he did his first showing in Jacksonville at a small home décor shop in San Marco. Je was down-to-earth and unassuming. At the time he even seemed a little taken aback by his celebrity status, but to me he had not only designed, but created a portrait of R.L. Burnside, a veritable blues legend.
Hess’ current show at Screen Arts, If I Had A Hammer, continues his energetic and sometimes quixotic tradition of art that feels alive with a pulse. It isn’t happy shiny art, and that’s what makes it stand out from other artists, and also what helped him make the transition from band flyer art to gallery art. This showing is going on at Screen Arts until the end of January, so make the trip out to Saint Augustine’s First Friday Art Walk on January 5th and catch this excellent show along with Screen Arts’ permanent collection of cutting-edge artists from here and around the world.
Derek Hess said on his website of The Gallery at Screen Arts: “My show at Screen Arts in St. Augustine Florida was AWESOME! They run a tight ship there, pro all the way, all bases covered, very nice. Thanks go out to Rob DePiazza, the captain, he’s the man. If you live in St. Augustine/Jacksonville consider yourself lucky to have a place like that.”
Indeed he is correct, so go and see what it is that everyone, world-class artists and everyday art lovers, are talking about.
|
