Gelsy Verna

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courtesy of The Gelsy Verna Estate and Harkawik New York.

'Mother, Father, Please Help Me,' by Gelsy Verna.

'Mother, Father, Please Help Me,' by Gelsy Verna.

This exhibition at MMoCA focuses on one work (and a recent museum acquisition): Gelsy Verna’s “Mother, Father, Please Help Me.” It’s a mixed media drawing using elements of collage that creates a visual example of considering more than one side of a subject — literally. The art work is two-sided, and MMoCA has created a reproduction of the reverse side for this exhibition. Verna’s multi-layered work invites the viewer to slow down and think about familiar cultural icons. You don’t need to “get it” immediately — that’s not really the point. A reception takes place as part of MMoCA’s 125th anniversary party on June 4; for more events, visit mmoca.org.

media release: May 7, 2026 – September 27, 2026. Summer Exhibition Celebration Friday, June 4, 2026.

The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) is pleased to announce that Mother, Father, Please Help Me, one of the last major works by Gelsy Verna, has been added to the permanent collection. The artwork is the subject of an upcoming exhibition in the Museum’s Henry Street Gallery, running May 7– September 27, 2026.

Programming & Events

Linguistics Talk with Salikoko Mufwene Saturday, May 30 • 2 PM

Opening Celebration Thursday, June 4 • 6–9 PM

Gelsy Verna was a Haitian-born Canadian artist whose body of work spans collage, works on paper, mixed media, and oil on canvas. In addition to her artistic practice, Verna was a dedicated educator, teaching at various colleges and universities. Notably, she served as an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 2001 until 2008.

“Gelsy shared so much of herself with the artistic community in Madison,” says Paul Baker Prindle, MMoCA’s Gabriele Haberland Director. “By collecting and exhibiting this artwork at MMoCA, we hope to continue that legacy.”

Throughout her career, Verna frequently challenged familiar cultural icons. Her works invite viewers to question how identity, history, and power are constructed.

Mother, Father, Please Help Me was drawn and redrawn over several years in collaboration with artist David Dunlap. Built through many layers of images and marks, it functions as a palimpsest—a surface that holds traces of earlier versions beneath what is visible today. The work embodies Verna’s belief that images and symbols evolve, and that new meanings emerge through revision, proximity, and combination.

The featured artwork has both a front and a back, both of which are essential to fully experiencing the piece. To allow visitors to encounter the complete work, the reverse side has been carefully reproduced and printed for display.

ABOUT GELSY VERNA 

Gelsy Verna (1961–2008) was a Haitian-Canadian artist, educator, and collaborator. Verna obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, with a concentration in painting and drawing. She also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture in Maine and the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Braunschweig, Germany. Verna went on to become a professor of visual arts at the University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Following her death in March 2008, the UW–Madison Art Department established the Gelsy Verna Project Space in her memory.

Her works are held in the collections of the Princeton University Art Museum; the Chambers Hotel in New York; the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center; and the personal collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody. Verna’s artistic legacy is overseen by her sister, Mahalia Verna. Recent exhibitions and art fairs featuring her work include Harkawik Gallery, New York (2025); 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London (2024); and Galerie Loeve&Co, Paris (2024).

SUPPORT

Support for Gelsy Verna: Mother, Father, Please Help Me is generously provided through an endowment established by the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.