Biography

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J. Joseph Hart is a painter living in Howard County Maryland and is a graduate of Salisbury University receiving his BA in Sociology. He continued his education at St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore, receiving an STB in Theology and a Masters of Divinity.

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From there he studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art for two years and continued his education at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Returning from Chicago he then began studies at the Mitchell School of Art in Ruxton Maryland. He has continued his creative and theological exploration in recent years at Harvard Divinity School in mind-body medicine.

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Artist Statement

The hunger and brokenness of humanity, the desire for wholeness in a struggling world, the yearning of the human soul for completeness and love, are themes artist J. Joseph Hart wrestles with in his creative process. Having lived and worked for many years in the arena of human illness and life transition, Mr. Hart endeavors to bridge human struggle with the possibility of fulfillment, of disappointment with the promise of new beginnings. This quest is accomplished through one source, the journey of the human condition, the story of the human heart with its hopes, fears, disappointments, promises and ultimately a desire for another. The human spirit at its core has the ability to change while overcoming fear, to risk completeness while facing failure, to seek its own discovery while tempting transformation.

These are the images Mr. Hart strives to negotiate through his extensive use of color and contrasting muted shapes, which constantly recreate themselves for the viewer. Mr. Hart’s challenge is to always discover new images, which contain the vital exchanges of life and spirituality. He strives to negotiate some of nature’s primal elements of color to fashion a unique vision for the spiritual character of the human condition. Humans possess the capacity to associate, create and procreate ideas, relationships and yes even life itself. This is the purpose of art; to express the procreative nature of spirituality and life in concert with all of creation.