PIGMENT OPENS REVOLUNTARY JULY 17TH AT VJOSA CAFÉ & EVENTS IN BRIDGEPORT
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Pigment International opens REVOLUNTARY, a bold new group exhibition on July 17 at Vjosa Cafe and Events, 1010 W. 35th Street in Bridgeport. The show runs through August 15th
REVOLUNTARY is an extension of Pigment’s February 2026 exhibition Glory! Glory!, which drew national attention for its exploration of the American flag as a site of Black artistic expression. This new body of work widens the conversation. Nine artists — Candace Hunter, Edo, Jesse Howard, Robert Lewis Clark, Salome Jaffe, Marlon Tobias, Howard Simmons and Tafari Melisizwe— bring paintings, photographs, works on paper, and works on aluminum into dialogue with the flags that anchored Glory! Glory! and remain at the heart of this exhibition.
The title is intentional. REVOLUNTARY — part revolutionary, part evolutionary — names what Black artists have always done: transform this country's contradictions into art that outlasts the moment that produced it. We open as the United States celebrates 250 years of independence, weeks after the Obama Presidential Center made history with its Juneteenth debut in Jackson Park. Robert Lewis Clark's '44', a monumental mixed-media homage to the 44th president — is now held in the OPC's permanent collection, a bridge between institutions and between eras. Prints of the work will be available.
From the Revolutionary War to the Civil Rights Movement, from the 1919 Chicago riots to the West Side burning in 1968, from Fred Hampton to Trayvon Martin to the rollbacks of today — Black Americans have faced every version of this moment before. And every time, they made something beautiful out of it. That is what REVOLUNTARY is about.
Come to the opening on July 17. Bring someone who needs to see this work. The artists are talking.
REVOLUNTARY July 17 – Third Friday of August 2026
Viola Cafe and Events | 1010 W. 35th Street, Bridgeport, Chicago
Opening Reception: July 17
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