Lots of Clevelanders — and national and international music fans — know the story of artist Derek Hess. He booked underground bands at the Euclid Tavern in the 90s, across the street from the Cleveland Institute of Art where he studied, and drew his own flyers for the shows, which rapidly became collectible. His flyers were noticed by art promoter Marty Geramita (who still reps him) who persuaded him to turn his designs into silkscreened (and soon also highly collectible) concert posters.
It was those concert posters for bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Pearl James and Pink Floyd that took his reputation beyond the underground scene, landed him commissions to do album covers, band merch and more. Soon his work was being displayed in galleries across the U.S. and in Europe and collected in the Louvre and the Rock Hall, as well as seen on fans in the form of tattoos and his lines of rock-inspired apparel.
This month his work is back at the Rotofugi Gallery in Chicago from November 12-December 4, where he previously showed in 2015. The current show, Jonny on the Spot with the Ammo, features all new work which you can see in person at the gallery (it’s only a 6-7 hour drive to a lively, vibrant city!) or online at gallery.rotofugi.com.
Since his days as a concert poster artist, Hess has published several books and moved into focusing on original drawings as well as fine-art prints, which express his views about the state of the world and the human psyche including his personal struggles with mental health and addiction. (He has become a activist for mental health as well.)
“Most of the emotions my work relates to are those that can be seen as the ‘negative’ ones,” says Hess. “My work isn’t happy, there’s angst, depression, loss, fear and loneliness in my work. Drawing the essence of emotions is elemental — we as a species will ALWAYS have heartache. It’d be deeply satisfying in my work stood the test of time, if it would be as relevant to someone in a hundred years as it felt to me the day I drew it.”
Learn more about the show and the new work here to see how Hess reliably finds new ways to express the themes and obsessions that drive his work.