On Saturday, June 13, from 6 to 10 p.m., Hed Hi Studio, 654 King St., Suite D, will present Rookie Cards, a one-night-only exhibition.
Curated by Kevin Earl Taylor, Rookie Cards brings together a diverse group of artists invited to revisit earlier versions of themselves. Each participating artist selected a work created before graduate school — with many reaching back much further, to childhood or adolescence — and created a new piece in response. Displayed together, these pairings offer a glimpse into the evolution of artistic practice: what remains, what changes and which instincts persist despite years of experience, experimentation and growth.
For Taylor, who was born and raised in Charleston before later living in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the exhibition also represents a return. After years of travel, exhibitions, collaborations and friendships formed across different cities and creative communities, Rookie Cards became an opportunity to bring artists, colleagues and longtime friends back to his hometown — many for the first time. The exhibition reflects his enduring connection to Charleston and the city’s early support of his artistic path.
Charleston’s longstanding cultural history and strong community of artists, collectors and independent spaces make it a fitting location for a project centered on origins. In many ways, Rookie Cards mirrors a journey outward and back again, carrying experiences gathered over time and reintroducing them to the place where many first began. Rather than viewing artistic development as a straight progression toward mastery, the exhibition suggests artists often spend a lifetime returning to the instincts, questions and curiosities that first drew them to making art.
Borrowing loosely from sports and collecting culture, the exhibition title references the “rookie card,” an early marker of potential viewed differently after years of growth. Here, those formative works become less about inexperience and more about continuity — evidence of creative impulses that continue to shape artists throughout their lives.
The exhibition also includes a limited-edition Rookie Cards baseball card deck featuring each participating artist, extending themes of memory, identity and trajectory into a collectible object.
Participating artists include:
- @andydiazhope
- @benvenom
- @bernhardtstudio
- @glen_baldridge_studio
- @arecolman
- @hardblink
- @prokhaus
- @justindwaugh
- @kevinearltaylorstudio
- @laurel_roth_hope
- @lucienshapiro
- @martinmachado
- @bigdogfurie
- @gianlucafranzese
- @michaelestephen
- @miekemarple
- @nathanbell
- @nora_aoyagi
- @stephanieinagaki
- @razoroflove
- @timhusseyart
- @traviskerkela
- @victorreyesstudio
- @willmilner_studio
- @amoaixoaix
- @bahamakangaroo
For information about limited-edition card decks or exhibition details, contact Hed Hi Studio.