December 5, 2025 - January 16, 2026
“The King will say to those on his right ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
-Matthew 25:34-36
Jacob Pesci: Divine Appointments is as exhibition of Pittsburgh-based photographer Jacob Pesci, who in the Spring of 2025, spent six weeks on a solo, 10,000-mile road trip across the United States. Having spent his early adulthood based in California in the US Military, Pesci was immersed in a culture of hypervigilance, propaganda, and extremism. Since completing his service, he has used photography as a way to move through his fear, evoke curiosity for the other, and to dismantle the militaristic systems of aggression and rigidity embedded within. Pesci’s practice has allowed him to rebuild his psyche through an eternal seeking of understanding, grace, and kindness, giving face and voice to those who may have once sparked apprehension for the artist.
In keeping with the tradition of American road trip photography, this body of work highlights land, people, movements, ideologies, and banalities. Pesci’s visits to politically charged sites such as military bases, oil refineries, and the boarder wall in El Paso, TX sit adjacent to more serene scenes of highway overpasses, cemeteries, and friendships and families. Through his exploration of small towns, Native American reservations, and deserts, Pesci’s work is filled with “divine appointments”, spiritually significant encounters that, for the artist, signal a sincere hope for transformation. This trip, and resulting exhibition, serve a chance for Pesci to attempt to capture both the divisions and fears present in our contemporary culture, as well as the loving connections that are always present within communities and individuals.
Jacob Pesci is a photographer, artist, and educator concerned with the human condition in the modern world. His work explores environment, culture, spirituality and the effect these elements have on human development, communal and social relationships, and systems of belief. His work has been shown at Space Gallery (Pittsburgh, PA), Silver Eye Center for Photography (Pittsburgh, PA), 937 Gallery (Pittsburgh, PA), The BLOC Chicago (Chicago, IL), and the Hokin at Columbia College (Chicago, IL). He received his BA in Photography from Columbia College in 2021. Pesci is the winner of the 2024 Tomayko Award.