MAY 29 - JULY 30, 2025

Exhibition Opening & Celebration
Thursday, May 29th, 6 - 8 PM

SOCO Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Layer Cake, a group exhibition of new works by over 25 gallery and exhibited artists, commemorating the 10th anniversary of SOCO Gallery. The gallery will host a public opening celebration on Thursday, May 29, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. The event will include food, drinks, and music, alongside many of the exhibiting artists.

Layer Cake spans both SOCO Gallery and SOCO Annex and includes work by Scott Avett, Monica Kim Garza, Jackie Gendel, Thomas Gleaner, Raymond Grubb, The Haas Brothers, Alison Hall, Roscoe Hall, Halsey Hathaway, Holly Keogh, Matt Kleberg, Karine Laval, Anne Lemanski, Andrew Leventis, Lauren Luloff, Douglas Melini, Jackie Milad, Liz Nielsen, Lyle Owerko, Jen Ray, Linda Foard Roberts, Brian Rochefort, Clare Rojas, Damian Stamer, Grace Stott, Holly Coulis, Sarah Ann Weber, and Summer Wheat.

Southern Comfort Gallery (SOCO) is a contemporary art gallery and bookshop in Charlotte, North Carolina. Established in 2015 by Chandra Johnson, the women-owned and operated space strives to bring museum-quality artists and artwork to its local community and to lead the conversation around contemporary art in the Southeast. SOCO Gallery regularly exhibits emerging regional talent and is proud of its connection to the national and international art world.

Located in a renovated 1920s bungalow in historic Myers Park, SOCO Gallery provides a thoughtful platform for contemporary art to be experienced, discussed, and acquired. The gallery specializes in assisting private collectors, institutions, and corporations in building their collections with artworks from emerging to mid-career artists. Community engagement and education are central to the gallery’s mission, and each exhibition is accompanied by artist talks and seminars. In June 2021, SOCO opened SOCO Annex, a space adjacent to the gallery that allows for dual exhibition programming as well as performances and installations.

Since its opening in 2015, SOCO has participated in sixteen art fairs, including the Dallas Art Fair (Dallas, TX), The Armory Show (New York, NY), NADA (Miami, FL), and Untitled (Miami, FL). Over the past decade, the gallery has presented sixty-six exhibitions in its main space, thirteen in SOCO Annex, and two pop-up shows in New York’s Chinatown. In addition to its exhibitions, SOCO has hosted a dynamic array of programming, including music and dance performances, artist talks, and book signings.

SOCO self-published three books with artists Damian Stamer (Unseen, 2021), Liz Nielsen (Apparitions, 2022), and Scott Avett (Purpose at Random, 2023), and has supported the publication of artist books for Summer Wheat with the Mint Museum (2024) and Clare Rojas with the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art (2024).

SOCO Gallery is a member of the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) and has been featured in Artsy, Surface, Cultured Magazine, Vogue, Forbes, and Architectural Digest, among others.