Sulfur Studios is pleased to present 18 Months, an exhibition of work by Rob Hessler on display in the ON::View Gallery from January 6th - 30th, 2022. This project will also include a video installation of Rob Hessler & Gretchen Hilmer’s podcast RPGs & Baby Makes 3, featuring the episode “Processing IRL Player Death with Family Therapist.”
About the Project
“COVID-19 has had a profound impact on me as an artist.
“Over the past 18 months, I’ve experienced a wide range of emotions, from relief that things were shutting down and I could take a break, to anxiety that the pandemic would never end, to elation at receiving my vaccination, to outrage at people downplaying the dangers of the pandemic and people that I cared about died.
“Over the past six-plus years, I’ve kept a daily journal, chronicling both the events of a given 24-hour period and the ups and downs I’ve experienced as a person. Looking back on the 18-month period defined by COVID-19, I selected three entries that I believe defined my state of mind in that moment. Using those words of inspiration, I imagined them as “writing on the walls” of my personal journey, literally representing them in graffiti as one might tag an outdoor surface. From there, I created self-portraits meant to capture where I was emotionally, combining them with the written words taken from my journals.
“The result, I believe, is a triptych of images that represents my path through one of the most turbulent periods of my life.”
– Rob Hessler
Artist Bio
Rob Hessler is a multidisciplinary artist and activist living and working in Savannah, Georgia. He has recently had solo exhibitions of his drawings at Lois Lambert Gallery in Los Angeles and Speakeasy Art Gallery in New Jersey, both of which represent his work. Hessler has also had performance art pieces at Telfair Museums’ Jepson Center in conjunction with an #art912 grant that he received, and at Sulfur Studios as part of their On::View program, where he was an Artist in Residence.
In-addition to creating artwork, Hessler is a passionate art advocate. He hosts the weekly radio show and podcast Art on the Air on WRUU 107.5 FM in Savannah, writes a weekly art column for the Savannah Morning News, and is Executive Director of Bigger Pie, an arts and cultural advocacy organization. He spearheaded the effort to create an Arts and Culture Candidate Questionnaire for the 2019 Savannah City Council elections, in order to better inform the public about the views of the candidates running for office.
18 Months will be on display in the ON::View Gallery at Sulfur Studios from January 6th - 30th, 2022, and can be viewed any time of day or night through our windows facing Bull Street. There will be an Opening Reception on Friday, January 7th from 5:00 - 9:00 pm in conjunction with First Fridays in Starland.
