Some exhibitions feel important. Others feel necessary. “Gordon Parks: The South in Color” at Jackson Fine Art is firmly in the second category. This spring exhibition, organized in collaboration with The Gordon Parks Foundation, revisits one of the most powerful photographic bodies of work ever produced about segregation in the United States. For anyone interested in photography, history, or visual storytelling, this is truly a must-see exhibition.
The timing of the show adds even more weight to the moment. The exhibition commemorates two major milestones: the 70th anniversary of the publication of Parks’ groundbreaking images of the segregated American South in Life magazine, and the 20th anniversary of the Gordon Parks Foundation, which continues to preserve and amplify the artist’s legacy.
At the heart of the exhibition is Segregation Story, the remarkable photo essay created by legendary photographer Gordon Parks during the summer of 1956 in Mobile, Alabama. More than thirty photographs from this series are brought together, many of which have rarely been shown in galleries. Alongside them are some of Parks’ most iconic images, including the unforgettable At Segregated Drinking Fountain, Mobile, Alabama, a photograph that has become one of the defining visual documents of segregation in America.
