While researching New York Life-sponsored www.jimcrowhistory.org, an unexpected discovery was made — the paintings of the late Johnnie Lee Gray. Johnnie Lee Gray lived in a segregated rural community in the 1950s. His paintings depict the triumph of the human spirit and its ability to rise above any indignity. New York Life is proud to sponsor the first-ever national exhibition of his work.
By exhibiting his work nationwide, we not only grant Johnnie Lee Gray his rightful place among American artists, we also honor his subjects. Although, in their time, the people in his paintings may have been on the invisible outer edges of U.S. society, they will now never be forgotten.
Rising Above Jim Crow
The Paintings of Johnnie Lee Gray
Dates and Locations
Previews were held September 24-27, 2002 at Russell Rotunda in Washington, DC, and October 5-19, 2002, at Forbes Galleries in New York City.
November 20 - January 3, 2003
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
New York City
January 18 - May 26, 2003
The Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, Illinois
June 21 - September 1, 2003
Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, Georgia
Fall - Winter, 2003
Los Angeles, California
January 23 - March 21, 2004
Greenville County Museum of Art
Greenville, South Carolina
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