From Plate to Palette
TJC Gallery, Spartanburg, South Carolina
April 17, 2014 – July 3, 2014
“Within the South itself, no other form of cultural expression, not even music, is as distinctly characteristic of the region as the spreading of a feast of native food and drink before a gathering of kin and friends. For as long as there has been a South, and people who think of themselves as Southerners, food has been central to the region’s image, its personality, and its character.”
~John Egerton (1935-2013)
From Plate to Palette explores the cultural context and import of food in the South, and how artists—including Carroll Cloar, William Halsey, Margaret Law, James McLean, Edmund Yaghjian, and Mary Whyte among others—have communicated its significance on paper and canvas. As a companion to the exhibition, a small catalogue cookbook pairs recipes from well known Spartanburg restaurants with paintings from the collection's holdings. These entries draw on Spartanburg’s rich culinary heritage and vibrant contemporary food landscape. Curated by Converse College junior and current TJC intern Jacqueline Bielevicz, From Plate to Palette was a featured event during Converse College's Okra 2 Opera Southern Culture Conference.