Exhibitions, New Works and Where to Shop Local Charlotte Artists

A new season brings new art exhibits and gallery events. Spend a few hours this Spring visiting our Charlotte galleries and discovering the artists and works they are excited to introduce to the community.

TFA Advisory

Spring brings a new artist to the walls (and pedestals) of TFA Advisory – the paintings and ceramics of Jiha Moon. With personal motifs and recognizable symbols presented in a constant changing sequence, her works seize your attention and captivate your mind as you decipher the imagery.

Jiha creates paintings, prints, and ceramic works that are saturated with cultural symbols of the East and West. Symbols that are immediately recognizable but given their juxtapositions, you just cannot put your finger on what it is or its name. In her words: “I am a cartographer of cultures and an icon maker in my lucid worlds.”

Referring to her process as shaking up what is recognizable, she creates a dialogue by questioning, “What is identity in our global world of mixed ethnicities and races?” For example, the peach represents a fusing of cultures as it is both the symbol of Georgia (her adopted home state) and a symbol of happiness and longevity in the Korean culture. Then there is the fortune cookie: standing as is or transformed into a face, to Jiha it is Western creation and symbol of American identity, as no one knows what a fortune cookie is in mainland China. It is this misunderstanding of cultures and questioning of what is relatively recognizable that brings us closer to understanding one another.

The mingling of opposites plays into Jiha’s chosen media as well. For her paintings she uses acrylic, invented in the first half of the 20^th century, on hanji paper, a traditional Korean mulberry paper in existence for thousands of years and given the adage that it can last for 1,000 years. While the acrylic may be applied in spontaneous brushstrokes, the next step of outlining these marks is done through the slow and deliberate application of ink with a brush. The ceramics also have this contradiction as the bodies are wheel thrown then enhanced with hand-built elements and finished with similar hand-painted imagery that is found in her paintings.

Jiha Moon (b. 1973, DaeGu, Korea) is based in Atlanta, Georgia. She earned both BFA and MFA degrees in Seoul and an additional MFA and MA degree from the University of Iowa.

Sozo Gallery

Charlotte Art Consultants ~ Sozo Gallery, located in one of Charlotte’s most soulful neighborhoods, Plaza Midwood, represents local and national artists, and works with local collectors and corporate art clients.

Sozo Gallery is a contemporary art gallery that brings fresh, original artwork from local, national, and international artists to Charlotte collectors.

Sozo’s focus is to inspire soulful connections between collector, art, and artist by supporting and promoting a variety of artists, and displaying works that excite, calm, and engage all of the senses. We want our clients to discover a connection — souls to be stirred up a bit, and conversations evoked.

We love it when we see our clients’ eyes squint a bit with a tilt of the head. Then, the half-smile, the eyes open a bit wider, the heart begins to melt… sparking the beginnings of that indescribable connection.

SOZO Gallery also offers online shopping through our website, we offer pick up for local clients as well as national delivery.

Lark & Key

The Nature of Color: Continues through April 30th
Group show inspired by color theory, featuring artwork from Sabra Crockett, Janet Eskridge, Lesley Frenz, Duy Huynh, Nicole Parish, Janel Pahl and Jen Stefanek, with ceramics by Julie Johnson and Hamilton Williams.

Flourish: May 1st – 31st
Group show featuring artwork from Shannon Amidon, Julia Whitney Barnes, Elizabeth Davant, Duy Huynh, Eleanor Miller and Nicole Parish, with jewelry by Marian Miller and ceramics from Rebekah Strickland.

When Life Gives You Lemons (and other fruitful endeavors): June 1st – 30th Group show featuring artwork from Donna Baldassari, Allysa Hallet, Duy Huynh, Jen Stefanek and Tyler Swain, with ceramics from Lakyn Bowman.

Previously a ‘brick & mortar’, Lark & Key has shifted to focus online and by appointment only. Exhibition artwork is posted on the website and available to shop beginning at noon on the first of the month. Work may also be viewed and purchased by appointment at our home office (located near Park Rd Shopping Center). Local pick up and deliveries available.

Email info@larkandkey.com or call 704.334.4616 for more information.

Art House Charlotte

Yes, Art House Charlotte is actually in a house. Located in South Charlotte, Art House Charlotte has been offering original, affordable (and mostly local!) art for over 10 years. Owner Judith Zehmke works with 20+ emerging artists and provides a relaxed shopping experience for collectors, designers and first time art buyers. The gallery operates by appointment only and offers a 48 hour trial period for clients to test pieces in their home so they can be sure it’s the perfect work for their space.

Follow their Instagram feed for the latest works!

Jerald Melberg Gallery

Thomas McNickle captures the serenity of nature through his oil on canvas paintings in his 15th solo exhibit at Jerald Melberg Gallery where “The Pond” will be on view through April 24.

McNickle calls rural Pennsylvania home. Volant, where he lives, had a population of 100 people as of 2019. Northwestern Pennsylvania offers plenty of space for an artist like McNickle, inspiring his work for decades. While his craft focuses on both landscapes and abstracts, the exhibition focuses on the former. McNickle paints contemporary but timeless landscapes in both oil and watercolor.  Often working from studies created en plein air, McNickle wants his work to evoke the sensorial experience of coming upon the landscape.