Man Behind The Art: 1 on 1 with Jonathan Greene

In the world of American art, few names command as much reverence or spark as much conversation as Jonathan Green. His vivid depictions of Gullah Geechee life and Lowcountry landscapes have not only preserved a culture too often overlooked, but have also propelled him into the upper echelons of contemporary art. Original Jonathan Green paintings routinely sell for tens of thousands of dollars, with collectors from New York to Nairobi vying for a piece of his distinctly Southern narrative.

Born and raised in the small coastal town of Gardens Corner, South Carolina, Green’s work is a visual love letter to the people, colors, and traditions of the Lowcountry. A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he returned home to capture the spirit of the Gullah community that raised him — translating memory into motion, faith into fabric, and ancestry into art. His paintings pulse with rhythm and joy, yet often carry an unspoken weight: the history of a people who endured, created, and thrived despite the odds.

Sepi, a travel and culture platform spearheaded by Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier, sat down with Green inside his sunlit Charleston studio o talk about the inspiration behind his work, the state of race and representation in Southern art, and why truth-telling through paint still matters in today’s divided America.