This exhibition features new works by the French artist and filmmaker Pierre Bismuth. The centerpiece is a long-form meditative film documenting a creative collaboration between Joshua Abrams and Sharon Udoh, two leading figures from Chicago’s jazz and improvised music scene. Bismuth tasked them with composing a 21st-century spiritual based on a lyrical hymn he wrote for the project. The film traces the magic and workaday practice of “inspiration,” taking the traditions of religious music as a point of departure for a multi-layered reflection on love, music, and the divine. In addition to this new film, Bismuth will present a series of digital images resembling American flags emblazoned with lyrics from the hymn.

The opening reception, presented as part of the 20th annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival, will include a live performance by Abrams and Udoh of the piece they composed together, starting at 2:15.

The Neubauer Collegium Gallery is supported by the Neubauer Family Foundation and the Brenda Mulmed Shapiro Fund. Additional support for this exhibition was provided by Bernard Friedman, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, and the France Chicago Center at the University of Chicago.