Revelations: The Art of Leo Twiggs – January 30 – May 3, 2026 at Gibbes Museum of Art

Revelations: The Art of Leo TwiggsGibbes Museum of Art — Revelations: The Art of Leo Twiggs (opens this week, on view through May 3) 

• Spans six decades of work by the nationally acclaimed artist
• Twiggs was born just 45 miles from Charleston in 1934, and will be celebrating his 92nd birthday during the run of the exhibition
• The museum show features more than 40 works created by Dr. Leo Twiggs between 1961 and 2020
• The first major retrospective exhibition in his home state of South Carolina
• Marks the 50th anniversary of Dr. Twiggs’ landmark solo show at the Gibbes in 1976 (during the bicentennial year)
• Now, a half-century later, this new exhibition comes at a national crossroads as America commemorates its 250th anniversary

Pictured above – the artist Dr. Leo Twiggs

The nationally acclaimed artist and educator was the first African American student to receive a Doctorate from the University of Georgia, and the first visual artist to receive the Governor’s Trophy for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts in South Carolina (the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award).  

His many accolades include: the Order of the Palmetto (South Carolina’s highest civilian honor); the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art/Gibbes Museum of Art; and was inducted in 2020 into the South Carolina Hall of Fame.

At South Carolina State University Dr. Twiggs taught from 1973 until 1998. During his tenure at the university, he started the Art Department and was instrumental in opening and serving as the Director of the I. P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium on campus. Twiggs was named professor emeritus in 2000.

“The whole point is that we are all on this boat together. We either sink, or we swim by making this experiment work,” says the artist, Dr. Leo Twiggs. “At this 250th anniversary, when we have come so far together in this country, this retrospective is not just about me — it’s about us, our shared American experience. I like to create questions with my work, which weaves in and out of this American narrative. And you cannot pass through the 250 years of American history without passing through Charleston,” adds Dr. Leo Twiggs.

“His singular creativity has transformed not only his life, but by his teaching and public service, has served as a beacon for thousands of students, fellow artists, and friends,” says Dr. Frank Martin, the guest curator for this exhibition. “Through talent, faith, ambition, intelligence and hard work, Leo Twiggs has emerged from the challenging obscurity of his early life (in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s) in a small, segregated community to become one of the South’s most nationally significant and innovative visual artists,” adds Dr. Martin.

Click HERE for more details on the new exhibit.

Pictured above – “The Swing,” by Leo Twiggs (1970) batik on cotton.

Pictured above – “We Have Known Rivers: Masks, Tree and Moon,” by Leo Twiggs (1992) batik and paint on cotton mounted on board.

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