You're Here With Us

TFA Gallery + Advisory & SOCO Gallery are pleased to announce the opening of a joint solo exhibition of paintings, quilts, and glass works by artist Corey Pemberton. This will be Pemberton's first solo exhibition with both galleries. SOCO Gallery and TFA Gallery + Advisory will host a public opening reception with the artist on Wednesday, September 16th from 6:00 – 8:00 PM, spanning both locations. ’you’re here with us brings together Pemberton’s various media to explore identity, history, and belonging. The artist draws on personal and collective narratives to create spaces of refuge, connection, and everyday beauty. On view at SOCO Gallery, Pemberton’s face jugs and blown glass works draw on the log cabin quilt pattern, a motif believed to have signaled safe houses along the Underground Railroad. Through this historical reference and his use of bold, vibrant color, Pemberton creates works that evoke both refuge and joy. Additional glass works mark the first time Pemberton has incorporated basket weaving into his practice, weaving strands of straw directly into the glass. Combined with African textile patterns and European vessel forms, these works reflect the artist’s ongoing exploration of ancestry, family history, and cultural hybridity.

Similar patterns and jug shapes are also presented in Stockholm Syndrome, a large quilt hand-sewn by Pemberton that depicts his own glass works as silhouettes. By depicting the vessels in shadow, Pemberton presents them as stand-ins for the viewer, creating opportunities for personal connection while reinforcing the sense of community that runs throughout the work. On view at TFA Gallery + Advisory, Pemberton’s portraiture invites both subject and viewer into a shared visual conversation. He depicts celebrities, friends, and himself within domestic, welcoming interiors, layering color, pattern, and pop cultural references to “queer the space” and create environments of safety and belonging for people of color and LGBTQ+ communities. His figures are neither idealized nor symbolic, but familiar and grounded in the rhythms of daily life. Rather than focusing on narratives of hardship or exceptional achievement, Pemberton finds the dignity, complexity, and beauty of the mundane. Through glass, quilting, and painting, Pemberton examines both personal and historical narratives while inviting viewers into the quiet beauty and everyday rhythms reflected in his work. The subjects and objects craft a communal presence that envelopes the viewer, simply stating “you’re here with us.”

“you’re here with us coincides with Corey Pemberton: Living Well at the Mint Museum, which opens on September 19. Pemberton will also be an artist-in-residence at the McColl Center in Fall 2026.