Meet Derek from 7-10 pm Friday, October 12

From concert posters to politically charged fine art pieces, Cleveland-based artist Derek Hess has tested the waters of both the music and art world for over 15 years.

“I’m lucky to have had the sense to take responsibility for the artistic ability I was given,” Hess says. “I’ve been able to develop it and grow.”

Growth, in general, has been an unwavering theme throughout both Hess’ personal and professional life. From a young age, Hess was transfixed by his father Roy’s ability to create on paper the images of planes and tanks that his son had swimming in his head.

“My father was a World War II veteran as well as an artist and the head of the industrial design department at the Cleveland Institute of Art. I remember him coming home from work and drawing the war scenes I had concocted in my head just like I described to him.”

In addition to his father’s artistic ability, Hess also inherited his desire to make a living from art. Beginning his career as a student at the ClA, Hess than transferred to The Center for Creative Studies in Detroit to focus on graphic design and illustration before settling in on a major in fine art print-making and subsequently moving back to Cleveland and returning to CIA and their strong print-making program.

Always a fan of music, Hess began booking shows at the Euclid Tavern, a staple for cover bands and blues at the time. Hess soon began to curtail the format of the bands being brought to the tavern into something he liked and was comfortable with. He also started creating the promotional flyers for the shows using his own unique vision and a play off the bands names and genre.

“Music is something that inspires me and something that I connect with,” Hess said. “I try to capture the essence of whatever the band I’m working with are trying to say or just the mood and the common thread that the bands have within the same style of music that I may be relating to.”

In 1993, while still booking bands at the Euclid Tavern, Hess’ flyers caught the eye of Marty Geramita, who suggested that Hess turn his flyers into a business venture. In the years immediately following, Hess, with Geramita as his manager, garnered the attention of countless bands as well as both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the infamous Louvre in Paris, who both have Hess’ art in their permanent collection.

In addition to posters for bands such as Pantera, Thursday, Pink Floyd and Pearl Jam, Hess has also created CD covers for bands like Motion City Soundtrack and Unearth. He has also been featured on television show and in magazines - MTV, Fuse, VH1, Alternative Press and Juxtapoz as well as many others.

Opening reception October 12 at 7pm at Pawn Gallery 2540 Elm Street.