Verna Hart

A native New Yorker, Verna Hart is well-qualified to be a gatekeeper of Black American culture. She was a student of Romare Bearden who has collaborated with Spike Lee and steeped herself in the Jazz tradition. Her expressionistic style bears the direct influence of Jazz: its syncopated rhythm, rich tonality, carefully crafted but seemingly carefree harmony and most importantly, its ability to capture not only a fleeting mood but a complete human experience. Hart melds colors like a musician arranges notes, creating a spirit and a beat that pervades her images.

Her work has been exhibited widely in the United States and Africa, including exhibitions at the Studio Museum of Harlem, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, Dorsey's Gallery, New York, Eubie Blake National Museum, Baltimore, MTA Arts for Transit Commission, New York, Hanes Hosiery/Sara Lee Coporation, North Carolina, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York , Carillon Importers Ltd., New Jersey, WBGO Jazz Radio Station, New Jersey, Atlantic County Art Collection, New Jersey, Bronx VA Medical Center, New York. Hart’s work has been privately collected by Bill Cosby, Spike Lee, Ellis & Branford Marsalis, Malcolm Jamal Warner, Lionel Hampton, Malcolm Jamal Warner, NJ Governor Jim Florio, Mayor Michael R. White (Cleveland) the late Dizzy Gillesepie, Ed Bradley, and her mentor the late Romare Bearden.

show. June 9 – July 11, 2009
opening. Saturday, June 13- 6:30-9pm

Mother and Child, watercolor on paper

The Loved Us, watercolor on paper

And Still We March, oil on canvas

Crimson Serenade, watercolor on paper

Precipitation, watercolor on paper

Westside Swing, watercolor on paper