Art Exhibition: Reflections on a Southern Summer

Opening June 9 at Spartanburg’s TJC Gallery, the exhibition Reflections on a Southern Summer honors the abiding allure that the South holds as both a destination and a homeplace. During the languid, gauzy days of summer in the South, leisure is a time-honored tradition – and an art in and of itself. When the heat rises, beachcombers rush the coastal waves, generations of fishers cast hope-laden hooks into mountain waters, and the shade of sprawling live oaks offers welcome respite. Charged by the season’s lengthening light, verdant landscapes, and recreational offerings from summit to shoreline, artists have created lasting impressions of this region’s summers for centuries.

On view through September 4, 2021, Reflections on a Southern Summer features works by Ernie Barnes, George Bellows, Margaret Burroughs, Josephine Couper, Lamar Dodd, William Dunlap, Clementine Hunter, Helen LaFrance, Margaret Law, Alice Smith, Eugene Thomason, and more. TJC Gallery, the Johnson Collection’s hometown exhibition space, is located at 154 West Main Street in downtown Spartanburg. Open from 12-4pm Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and the first Saturday of the month, gallery admission is free, and all are welcome.

About the Johnson Collection

Hailed by The Magazine Antiques with having staged a “quiet art historical revolution” and expanding “the meaning of regional” through its “exhibitions, loans, publications, and institutional partnerships,” the Johnson Collection seeks to illuminate the rich history and diverse cultures of the American South. Learn more at thejohnsoncollection.org.