Plate to Palette: Seconds
TJC Gallery, Spartanburg SC
August 7, 2024 – October 26, 2024
In 2014, The Johnson Collection launched a celebration of Spartanburg’s food heritage with Plate to Palette, an exhibition that paired paintings from the American South with original recipes from representatives of our local culinary communities. Now, ten years later, we invite you to be our guest for a second helping of gastronomic artistry, as a new line-up of Spartanburg chefs, bakers, and restauranteurs contribute recipes inspired by works from The Johnson Collection.
The connections between the culinary and visual arts run deep. Many of the key ingredients in historical art media were, after all, literally food—from the animal fats and vegetable oils of the paleolithic cave painters to the egg-based temperas whose capacity for precision and durability helped both stimulate and preserve the European Renaissance. And of course, food can be an artform unto itself since, as the old adage has it, “The eyes eat first.” Chefs and bakers skillfully and subtly blend tastes, textures, colors, and forms to create dishes that not only fuel the body but also nourish the spirit and senses.
The two dozen works of art featured in Seconds offer a hearty buffet of the variations that characterize our region’s visual artistic practices, spanning hundreds of years and representing themes both familiar and sublime, poignant and whimsical. Mirroring this diversity are culinary creators from across Spartanburg’s award-winning food scene, from honored family recipes that have been handed down through generations to scrumptious innovations that have rightly earned Spartanburg its regional reputation as a destination for true foodies.
Bon appétit—the art is served!
Featured Artists: Julien Binford, Lloyd Branson, Josephine Couper, Joseph Fiore, Red Grooms, William Halsey, Hattie Hill, Nora Houston, Wadsworth Jarrell, Mary Anne Jenkins, Eastman Johnson, Sidney Laufman, Adele Lemm, Corrie McCallum, Robert Neal, Sewell Sillman, Gladys Nelson Smith, Donald Sultan, Maltby Sykes, Eugene Thomason, Thomas Wightman, Karl Wolfe, and Thomas Wood
Featured Spartanburg Restaurants: The Piedmont Club, Heirloom- A Milltown Eatery, Blue Moon Specialty Foods, City Range Steakhouse, Delaney's Irish Pub, Gerhard's Cafe and Biergarten, Wade's Restaurant, Daniel Morgan Technology Center, Isla's on the Square, Mon Amie Morning Cafe, The Bread Guy, Caroline's Cakes, Bald Guy Barbecue, Monarch Cafe, Little River Roasting (Cafe and Bakery), and Pharmacy Coffee.
EXHIBITION PLAYLIST