Feature Articles

September Issue 2002

Jerald Melberg Gallery in Charlotte, NC, Features Exhibit of Works by Romare Bearden

Jerald Melberg Gallery in Charlotte, NC, is pleased to present a major exhibition of work by Charlotte's native son, Romare Bearden (1911-1988). The exhibition, titled Romare Bearden: Revisited, will feature unique collages, watercolors and prints available for acquisition. Many were personally selected by Jerald Melberg from the Romare Bearden Foundation and will be available in Charlotte for the first time. The exhibition begins Sept. 7 and continues through Nov. 2, 2002.

The gallery is also delighted to announce a very special addition to the exhibition: the collage At Low Tide was completed in Jan. 1988 and was the last collage Bearden made in his lifetime.

Jerald Melberg first became acquainted with Bearden when he was curator at the Mint Museum of Art in the late 1970s. It was while at the Mint Museum that Melberg organized the first major exhibition of Bearden's art to have a national tour. Twenty-four years later, Melberg is proud to have known Bearden as a friend in life and remains steadfast in his dedication to the man and his art.

Born in Charlotte in 1911, Bearden was, and still is considered America's greatest collagist. During his artistic career, Bearden stretched the potential of collage. He raised it to a mode of expression that was so intensely personal that it is difficult to name another artist so closely associated with the technique. Bearden's ability to depict the many rituals and social customs of twentieth century rural Black America - spiritual ceremonies, baptisms and burial, industrial hardships, musical arrangements and daily life - was masterful. Bearden once said, "I am trying to explore, in terms of the particulars of the life I know best, those things common to all cultures." He wanted to bring the African-American experience into art and give it a universal dimension. In that he succeeded.

Jerald Melberg Gallery is also involved in assisting the Mint Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in gathering work for their respective exhibitions. Charlotte's Own: Romare Bearden will be on view at the Mint Museum through Oct. 27, 2002; and the National Gallery of Art's major retrospective of Bearden's collages is scheduled to open in Sept. 2003.

For more information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 704/365-3000 or on the web at (www.jeraldmelberg.com).

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