Opening May 6, an eccentric exhibition will adorn the walls of Calvin’s 106 Gallery on Division Avenue. “Jaro Hess: A Truly Free Life”, co-curated by senior Julia LaPlaca and art history professor Craig Hanson, will be one of the first retrospectives of this amateur artist’s oeuvre, hosting around 25 images and objects from private and personal collections.

The project is a result of LaPlaca’s honors contract for art history. Spearheading the project, LaPlaca spent the past year and a half researching and conversing with members of Hess’ family in order to put together a succinct, but thorough, retrospective. Born in Czechoslovakia, Hess moved to Grand Rapids in the 1920s.

Working as a landscaper and gardener, his occupations encompassed a wide variety of interests, most memorably his artistic projects. Humorous, dark, mischievous and always whimsical, Hess’ paintings and drawings are windows into a vibrant imagination. “Jaro Hess (1889–1977): A Truly Free Life” will provide a brief overview of Hess’ colorful career and explore the nature and place of Hess’ work in Grand Rapids. This exhibition intends to explore four themes, tracing the broad reach of Hess’ life, his connection and exploration with the parapsychology movement, his outsider-art aesthetic and his place in the local art scene in the mid-20th century.

More information can be found at: https://jarohess.wordpress.com/

An opening reception will be taking place at the 106 Gallery on Friday, May 6, from 6 to 9 p.m.