Opening Reception for Pierre Bismuth: Love Bless America

In the fall of 2026, the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society will present Love Bless America, an exhibition of new works by the Brussels-based French conceptual artist and filmmaker Pierre Bismuth (b. 1963).

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a long-form meditative film documenting the creative meeting between two leading figures from Chicago’s jazz and improvised music scene: Joshua Abrams and Sharon Udoh. Bismuth has tasked them with composing a 21st-century spiritual based on a lyrical hymn he wrote for the project. Bismuth’s double portrait traces both the magic and the workaday practice of “inspiration,” using the commingling of religious musical traditions as a point of departure for a multi-layered reflection on love, music, and the divine.

In addition to this new film, Bismuth will also present a series of prints resembling American flags emblazoned with excerpts from the artist’s hymn.

Curated by Dieter Roelstraete.

IMAGE: Still from Pierre Bismuth's Love Bless America, 2026. Courtesy of the artist.