Widely known for his engaging photographs of jazz musicians, Hugh Bell (1927-2012) used his talents as a skilled portraitist, his understanding of the vicissitudes of human emotion, and a Henry Ossawa Tanner inflected exploration of human qualities to capture the vulnerabilities and strengths of his subjects in a way that only a scant few have been able to do.

After graduating from New York University in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Cinematic Art he frequented and photographed the dancehalls of the 50’s, capturing most of the legendary jazz artists, including Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and Louis Armstrong.  In 1955, Edward Steichen selected Bell’s “Hot Jazz” for ‘The Family of Man’ exhibition. Over 2 million photos were submitted for the exhibition and only 503 were selected. The exhibit showcased work from 273 photographers including Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston and Irving Penn. ‘The Family of Man’ was first shown in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and then toured 38 countries over several years. It is considered to be the most successful photography exhibit ever.

As a child of Harlem during the great depression, Bell moved to the Village to pursue his vision and establish the multiple studios carrying his name. A chance encounter with the late documentary filmmaker Richard Leacock sent Bell to Spain, where he was able to capture everyday life in Ibiza.  During these trips he was also able to capture Ernest Hemingway, Lauren Bacall and matador Luis Miguel Dominguin.  Despite objections from clients to work with an African American, Leacock always insisted on the inclusion of the young Hugh Bell; and as an act of loyalty and appreciation, Bell extensively documented the Leacock family over a span of 4 decades.

A career spanning well over 60 years; Hugh Bell enjoyed a successful career as a commercial photographer, working for brands like Coca Cola. His photographs have been exhibited extensively in New York. They have been immortalized on album covers like “After Hours with Sarah Vaughan” and in the pages of Avant Garde, Esquire, Essence and others, along with K.Abe’s “Jazz Giants”. A limited edition monograph “Between The Raindrops”, was published in 2006 of Hugh Bell’s work.

Carlton Ingleton was born in Kingston,Jamaica and immigrated to New York in 1962. His walk on this artistic road began in Jamaica, when as a 14-year-old, he began creating with pencil drawings, with his art evolving over time into many water colors, oils and then sculptures. 

Carl E. Hazlewood was born in Guyana, South America. His BFA (with honors) is from Pratt Institute and his MA from Hunter College. A visual artist, curator, and writer, he co-founded Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art in Newark, NJ (1983-2018). Fellowships and residencies include the 2023-24 Sharpe-Walentas Residency, two MacDowell Fellowships; The Brown Foundation Fellows Program at the Dora Maar House, Ménerbes, France; The Bogliasco Foundation, Genoa, Italy; The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts; Headlands Center for the Arts; Yaddo; and Art Cake Residency, NYC. A Tree of Life award grantee in 2017, his fifty-two feet mural, TRAVELER, was commissioned, also 2017, by the Knockdown Center, Queens. His most recent solo projects were with the Dia Art Foundation, Chelsea (2023); the Charlotte & Philip Hanes Art Gallery - Wake Forest University (2023); and the Welancora Gallery at ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH (2022) and The Armory Show (2024). Brattleboro Museum solo exhibit March, 2025.

Art: "The harmonious expression of one's vision of life"

The figure has been my interest, inspiration and focus, which I have continued to study through a strong foundation in drawing. I found sculpture as I sought to explore a more plastic vehicle of communication. The energy, vigor and emotive quality of the human figure intrigues me and this has sustained and anchored my work. Through the exploration of the language of the body, I have been able to capture exaggerated movement, subtle gesture, and the expression of emotions and attitudes to thus encapsulate and portray varying aspects of the human condition.

Striving for mastery of technique and a deep understanding of anatomy, my struggle is not just to make the figure life-like but to also capture the energy, motivation and spirit that are reflected in every aspect of the subject. With an ability gained over decades of dedication to observation and expression, I am able to see what lays on the surface along with how it is shaped from within and what is the driving force and essence underneath.

Modeling, my favored method, allows me to incorporate the energy of the process which I can vary according to concept and attention to detail. There are times when the attention is to the big picture with concern only for the essence and energy of the figure. At other times, there is more attention to detail which might be essential to the concept. At all times however, the process feels natural as the sculpture evolves out of a close observation of nature.

I am inspired by the heroic in mankind, and am moved to express the vitality, beauty, grace and strength of the human figure in its varied shapes, sizes, abilities and functions. The spirit that motivates it is limitless in its grandeur.

Biography 

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, the son of internationally renowned painter Barrington Watson, it was a natural progression for Watson to study at the Jamaica School of Art. He then went on to establish a successful career as Jamaica's leading sculptor. The most notable of his achievements include having monumental works on the campuses of the 3 primary universities in the island, as well as signature works at the 2 major Stadia. In 2016, the Government of Jamaica awarded Basil the Order of Distinction (Commander) in recognition of his contributions in the field of Art. Emigrating to the United States in 2002, Watson established his home and studio in Lawrenceville, GA. Having continued the steep climb to international recognition, he has completed major works in China, Guatemala, and in various States within the US. Over his 40 year career, Basil has completed several major commissions for various governments and organizations all over the world.

Most recently . Usain Bolt at the Ansin Sport Complex, John Lewis Memorial Monument, University of South Carolina Desegregation Monument, and Rosa Parks monument commissioned by Equal Justice Initiative. 

Captivating, provocative, intellectually stimulating—these are some of the adjectives used to describe the

art of Robergeau Duverger. Using a mixture of African and Oriental influences, with a sprinkling of German expressionism, this exciting artist has created a style that can best be described as abstract realism or abstract expressionism.

Anguish, pressures of everyday life, contemplation of world events, and past memories and thoughts of persecution in the Caribbean are the pervasive elements depicted in the most recent works of the Haïtian-born artist. Duverger says, "My work is about my life experiences." A close examination of his work reveals just that. Whether his survival of onslaughts from a group of high school toughs called "The Jolly Stompers,” silent screams when he was being robbed at knifepoint in his Brooklyn home while his relatives reveled in an upstairs living room, or exploration of deep-seated emotion, his abstract expressionism tells it all.

Duverger’s professional career began to take shape while he was still a student at Pace University, with his first job as a photography teaching assistant. After graduating cum laude in 1983, Duverger assumed the post of Adjunct Professor at Pace. In the spring and summer of 1984, he went on to explore his love of color by working as a color specialist at Marvin Kommel Productions in New York City.

In the fall of 1984, Duverger enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts program at C.W. Post School of Arts in Long Island to further pursue painting and drawing. As a graduate student there, he seized another opportunity to enhance his professional development, teaching and grading a three-credit drawing class to foundation design majors and curating and hanging the annual foundation design show.

While busy raising his family and working as a full-time art director, Duverger’s personal artistic expression took a back seat. Slowly, as his children grew, so did his return to the easel.

In 2009 the artist began a body of work, Trafficking. While human trafficking is still found in many forms around the world including the United States, this series is focused on the restaveks from his native Haïti. “Rarely do we see or hear of this in the news; it is something that is hidden right in front of us. I’m hoping that these haunting images will make it even more apparent and invoke some emotion and perhaps a call to action in all of us." Valentine New York is currently working on producing a book on the series.

Robergeau Duverger is an introspective man who enjoys expressing himself on canvas rather than through the spoken word. "I don't talk a lot. I prefer to observe what is happening around me and then share my perspective and interpretation through my art,” he says. Robergeau Duverger suffered an aneurysm in 2021; currently lives with his family in New Jersey. 

Jamaican-born Brooklyn artist Cheery Stewart-Josephs has been a professional painter
since 1983, when she exploded on the Jamaican and Caribbean art scene with her
dramatic, unique style and her vibrant depiction of Jamaican life.

Born in the cool hills of Manchester, Jamaica, she developed a love and fascination for
the lush Jamaican landscape; and from early as she can remember, was drawing and
painting that landscape. This early love of art and innate talent was nurtured and
cultivated during her high school years. After high school, she continued to hone her
skills, with her love of the Jamaican countryside finding expression in landscape
paintings.

With more than three decades of experience, the self-taught artist briefly attended Edna
Manley School of Art and Visual School of Arts in New York City. She was one of the
original Trafalgar artists - the group of practising artists who had a roadside gallery from
early in the 1970s on Trafalgar Road in Kingston, Jamaica. There, she was guided and
taken under the wings of art critic Ansel Walters, founder of the Trafalgar Artist
Cooperative.

She credits her husband Hugh Josephs for inspiring and pushing her to remember that
she did not "become" but was "born" an artist.

In 2021, she was selected to be part of Art in August, a special virtual exhibit
organized by the Port Authority of NY and NJ.

Her work is displayed globally and has been collected by art enthusiasts, collectors and
public officials.

Donovan Nelson was born in Manchester, Jamaica, WI and in 1982, he relocated to the U.S.  In 1995, Nelson received a B.F.A in illustration from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA.  Additionally, he studied portraiture and figure painting at the prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Nelson received an M.F.A. from the New York Academy where he studied with Martha Erlebacher, Vincent Desiderio, Jack Beal, Alfred Lesley, and Juan Cardenas.

 Mr. Nelson students paintings have been expat Charles Evans Inniss Memorial Library at Medgar Evers College. 

Nelson lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Iyeeka is a Jamaican artist who enjoys creating vivid acrylic paintings with representations of social life and the natural environment. She utilizes a mixture of realism and abstract expression to present an idea and stir emotions in the viewer. Iyeeka has had a love for art from a very young age, spending a large portion of her time drawing and painting while growing up in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. Her passion for artistic expression has remained a constant throughout her life, inspiring the creation of over 50 works, on various subject matters. Her landscapes focus mainly on places that stir feelings of warmth, quietness and comfort, and seek to offer to the viewer, an inner calmness and peace.

My work reminisces on the playful, joyful moments of my past experiences and observations. I hope to remind the viewer of similar moments in their own history and to transpose the past with the present, for a moment, for quiet reflection and appreciation.