Guild Hall’s Dual Exhibitions Featuring Mary Heilmann and Joel Mesler Through October 26

Guild Hall two major exhibitions: Mary Heilmann: Water Way and Joel Mesler: Miles of Smiles, both run through October 26, 2025 and are a must see if out East. The dual presentation marks Heilmann's first large-scale solo exhibition at an East End institution and Mesler's debut museum show in his adopted home region.

Located at 158 Main Street in East Hampton, Guild Hall presents Water Way as an exhibition that Heilmann has long wished to stage. The show brings together more than 40 works spanning from the 1980s to the present, including works on paper, ceramics, and paintings from a focused area of her output.

Mary Heilmann: Water Way

Mary Heilmann has been an integral part of the East End's creative community for decades, maintaining a home and studio in Bridgehampton while residing primarily in New York City. The California-born artist grew up along the coast in both the Bay Area and Los Angeles, becoming a competitive diver and engaging with beatnik and surfing cultures that continue to influence her work. Throughout her life, Heilmann has consistently chosen to live close to water, which has profoundly impacted her artistic practice. She remembers creating a watercolor of the ocean at sixteen, and this proximity to water continues to influence how she considers light when conceiving paintings.

At sunset and moonrise, Heilmann looks to the sand, sky, and sea for inspiration for her bold color palette. She characterizes her work as autobiographical, translating observations into abstractions and giving works titles that offer viewers hints about her ideas.

Water remains a recurring theme throughout her practice. She translates waves into geometric, hard-edge patterns, likening this process to how a diver must conceptualize the physical geometry of the body when planning a dive.

Joel Mesler: Miles of Smiles

Opening alongside Water Way, Joel Mesler: Miles of Smiles represents the artist's first museum exhibition in the region where he began a new life in 2017. The former art dealer brings together multiple facets of his identity as artist, collector, connoisseur, archivist, artistic collaborator, and cultural steward.

Mesler's installation features a varied selection of his own work alongside personal objects and pieces from his collection. The exhibition includes works by contemporaries with whom he shares deep personal connections, including Sarah Aibel, Roger Herman, Sheree Hovsepian, Rashid Johnson, Henry Taylor, and Austyn Weiner.

The show also features works by artists who have influenced his practice, including Francesco Clemente, Mauricio Lasansky, and Ben Shahn. In his East Hampton office and studio, Mesler lives and works in a horror vacui environment, experiencing an unmediated relationship with art and objects that inhabit every square inch of his space.

Mesler's practice sheds light on universal themes by filtering them through autobiography, humor, self-deprecation, and surprising compositional juxtapositions. He employs graphic patterns and motifs, elaborate typography, and personal iconography while exploring the power of acceptance.

Through Miles of Smiles, Mesler takes visitors on a journey offering glimpses into the complexity of life, the value placed on objects, and emotional attachments to them. The space functions as a gathering and meeting place where Mesler will host office hours and public programs.

The artist has also created The Smile Shop, an artist-designed pop-up shop in the Pamela and Edward Pantzer Lobby Gallery. The shop serves its audience by providing smiles through merchandise designed by Mesler, including charm necklaces, wallpaper, ceramics, plushies, and robes.

"Both Mary Heilmann and Joel Mesler are internationally recognized artists who have cultivated personal relationships with the East End. Heilmann over decades, Mesler in more recent years, and that deep sense of place resonates throughout their work," said Melanie Crader, Guild Hall's museum director and curator of visual arts.

"We are excited about this intergenerational pairing with complementary yet unique presentations," Crader added.

The timing for Heilmann's first major East End institutional exhibition aligns with Guild Hall's recent state-of-the-art renovation, completed as part of a facility-wide Capital Improvements Project and Campaign. The renovation includes top-of-the-line physical and technological enhancements to better deliver on the institution's mission as an artist-driven, interdisciplinary center.

Guild Hall has partnered with both artists to create limited-edition merchandise that reflects their unique practices. A Mary Heilmann collaboration features a tote bag showcasing her 2024 work, Blue Sky Spot, marking the first time one of Heilmann's iconic ceramic works has been reproduced as a tote bag.

The Joel Mesler collaboration includes a classic navy baseball cap featuring his sentiment "You deserve great things." The merchandise represents what Crader describes as accessible and elevated objects offering democratic entry points into contemporary art.

"These objects expand the artists' reach beyond the gallery. It's a way of integrating art into daily life and deepening the connection between artists and audiences," Crader explained.

Both exhibitions are organized by Melanie Crader, museum director and curator of visual arts, with Philippa Content, museum manager and registrar, and Claire Hunter, museum coordinator and curatorial associate. Galleries are open during exhibitions from 12 to 5 PM, Thursday through Sunday.

Founded in 1931, Guild Hall serves as the cultural heart of the East End as a museum, performing arts, and education center. The institution has served four generations and introduced audiences to storied artists and performers while approaching its centennial celebration.

Mary Heilmann: Water Way receives lead sponsorship from Jacqueline Brody, Agnes Gund, Ellen and Howard Katz, Louise Riggio, and The Tessler Family. Joel Mesler: Miles of Smiles is supported by lead sponsors Judelson Family Foundation and The Tessler Family, with CULTURED serving as exhibitions media partner.