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PIGMENT MAGAZINE ISSUE VI: AMERICA 250 —
WE ARE THE PEOPLE
Call For Art and Advertisers
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Two hundred and fifty years. That is the span of American history this nation is marking in 2026 — and Pigment International® is marking it on our own terms.
Pigment Magazine Issue VI, our Collector's Edition, arrives this August themed America 250: We ARE The People. At a moment when the contributions of Black Americans risk being minimized or erased from the national record, this issue centers Black artists as essential narrators of where this country has been, where it stands today, and where it must go.
The editorial landscape is extraordinary. Profiles of Expo Chicago's new curator Essence Harden and the Smithsonian's Jane Carpenter Rock sit alongside a landmark anniversary story on the Kinsey Collection at 20 years. We travel from Chicago's iconic Wall of Respect — whose anniversary we have long documented — to Venice, to Lagos, to wherever Black creative vision is reshaping the world. The Edmonda Lewis traveling exhibition, currently moving across this country, receives the attention it deserves. And at the center of it all: a multi-voice story exploring how artists today are interpreting America's 250th through the charged, contested, and reclaimed image of the flag.
We are calling on you. If you are a Black artist working with themes of nationhood, identity, history, resistance, or belonging — we want to see your work. Submit images for editorial consideration to pigmentintl@gmail.com. Image submissions are due June 15, 2026.
Advertisers and corporate partners: this is the issue you want to be in. Ad reservations close June 15. Final materials are due July 1. All ads are full page. Beautiful design is expected and celebrated.
Issue VI, an evergreen keepsake, goes to press July 15. E-mail us at pigmentintl@gmail.com. Artwork by Thomas Lockhart, courtesy of E&S Gallery.
This is the record. Be part of it.
Pigment International is grateful to the Field Foundation for their support of this issue.
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CELEBRATING WE ARE THE PEOPLE: PIGMENT INTERNATIONAL RETURNS TO THE 57TH STREET ART FAIR
Six Featured Artists Bring Depth, Beauty, and Cultural Legacy to Hyde Park
| | Pigment International will again be exhibiting at the 57th Street Art Fair, one of the city's longest-running fairs, on June 6 & 7. Now in its fourth year at this beloved Hyde Park institution, Pigment's exhibition is a celebration of the country's 250th Anniversary — a showcase of the depth and breadth of our artists. The fair runs Saturday, June 6 from 11am–6pm and Sunday, June 7 from 10am–5pm. Admission is always free. | | |
Howard D. Simmons brings a storied photographic legacy to Pigment’s booth. A career spanning Johnson Publishing Company, The Chicago Sun-Times, and decades of commercial photography has shaped Simmons into one of Chicago's most distinguished visual storytellers. His works will be available both as traditional prints and striking aluminum-mounted pieces.
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Reggie McFly is recognized for his vibrant mixed media works that fuse imagination with cultural commentary. Most recently featured at Pigment Internationals exhibition Glory! Glory!, McFly's presence at the fair underscores Pigment's commitment to showcasing artists at the forefront of contemporary Black creativity. His multi-media work Land of the Free, featuring Gordon aka Whipped Peter commenting on the 250th Anniversary of the country was recently acquired by an Atlanta collector.
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Robert Lewis Clark's monumental mixed media work '44' — an 8' x 11' piece created on wood in 2012 was also showcased during Glory! Glory! A print of that work has found its permanent home in the collection of the Obama Presidential Center (OPC). At the 57th Street Art Fair, Clark will offer a limited number of signed prints of this iconic work, along with specially created t-shirts inspired by the piece.
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James Nelson's artistry centers on the lifelike and the luminous. His hand-embellished rendition of former President Barack Obama captures both the historic weight and the personal warmth of the 44th President, offering fair-goers a chance to take home a deeply felt tribute to an enduring icon.
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Pigment will also be showcasing "Forevermore," a surrealist portrait of President Barack Obama by South Side Chicago artist Edo. Born Eddie Santana White, Edo is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist whose immersive work draws inspiration from Salvador Dalí, Kaws, and Hebru Brantley, among others. Operating under his brand Infinite Inception, Edo creates art that reveals something new with every viewing — layered, vibrant, and endlessly unfolding.
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Pigment is proud to spotlight new work by Salome Jaffe, who renders her striking compositions on steel using oil paint and acid — a process as daring as the imagery it produces. Jaffe is currently vying for the title of the People's Artist, and you can vote for her through midnight tonight.
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In addition to original works and prints, the Pigment International booth will feature an assortment of merchandise including shirts, tote bags, and hats — plus, of course, the latest issue of Pigment Magazine. Stop by, shop, and celebrate 250 years of American art through the powerful lens of Black and African artists.
57th Street Art Fair Hours: Saturday, June 6: 11am–6pm | Sunday, June 7: 10am–5pm | Free Admission.
Can't attend the fair? Visit our Shopify site or email us at pigmentint@gmail.com
| | RUN — DON'T WALK TO SEE NATHANIEL MARY QUINN'S A LOVE LETTER TO MY MOTHER | | Nathaniel Mary Quinn's A Love Letter to My Mother at National Public Housing Museum | | |
RUN — don't walk — to experience Chicago native Nathaniel Mary Quinn's first solo museum exhibition at the National Public Housing Museum (NPHM). A Love Letter to My Mother is precisely what its title promises: a deeply personal elegy to the woman whose faith made an artist.
Quinn grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes, once the largest public housing complex in the country. What opened as an optimistic promise of affordable living slowly devolved into an urban malaise where survival eclipsed aspiration. Quinn has said that Robert Taylor Homes were "incredibly efficient at killing dreams" — yet his mother Mary refused to let that be his story. She championed his talent, and he has since adopted her name as his own.
The exhibition anchors itself around a living room reconstructed from memory, conjuring the family's apartment circa 1984 — the place where, with his mother's encouragement, Quinn covered the walls with childhood sketches. At first glance, his collage-like, composite portraits carry an almost Frankenstein-like quality — assembled from many parts, some grotesque, others luminous — yet every assembled face pulses with unmistakable soul. The good, the bad, and the beautiful, stitched together into a singular human truth. Comparisons to Francis Bacon are apt, but Quinn's vision is warmer, more redemptive.
Now represented by Gagosian and with work held by the Whitney, SFMOMA, and the Art Institute of Chicago, Quinn recently created the cover art for the Rolling Stones' new album. The exhibition runs through August 23rd. And while you're there, take time to explore the one year old NPHM — named by USA Today as one of the country's top new museums.
| | ENSEMBLE OF WAVE AND WIRE | | Work by Ladipo Famodu is on display at Stereo Harmony Gallery | | |
Chicago-based artist Ladipo Famodu defies easy categorization. A chemist, musician, designer, and capoeirista, Famodu brings every dimension of his identity to bear in Ensemble of Wave and Wire, his debut solo exhibition now on view at Stereo Harmony Gallery, 147 S. Lumber Street, through June 7.
Rooted in kinaesthetic learning—the exchange of knowledge through the manipulation of objects and movement of the body—Famodu’s practice transforms the everyday into the extraordinary. The exhibition features found objects including toy cars, Lake Michigan shells, and light bulbs, woven together with his signature hand-fashioned aluminum. Shaped into silhouettes, headphones, and even shoelaces, the aluminum works pulse with wit and craft. Oil pastel crayon adds warmth and color to the ensemble.
Artist Talk on June 6th at 2:00 p.m. 2147 S. Lumber St
| | LAVETTE BALLARD RELEASES LIMITED EDITION PRINT | | Lavett Ballard has released a new print Poppies Make Me Sleepy | | |
Celebrated mixed media artist Lavett Ballard has released a new limited-edition print, Poppies Make Me Sleepy, produced in collaboration with Brandywine Workshop and Archives (BWA) — the Philadelphia-based nonprofit cultural institution founded in 1972 as Brandywine Graphic Workshop in Philadelphia. For more than fifty years, BWA has championed diversity-driven printmaking, hosting residencies with luminaries including Romare Bearden and Sam Gilliam.
Measuring 22 x 30 inches, the work carries the luminous, layered sensibility that has made Ballard one of the most compelling voices in contemporary art. A two-time Time magazine cover artist — commissioned for the publication's 100 Women of the Year edition in 2020 and again in 2023 for a cover accompanying Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson's essay on Caste — Ballard is also a professor whose classroom presence extends her artistic vision to the next generation. Her work is held in prominent public and private collections nationwide.
Of the edition of 30, just 15 prints remain, priced at $2,500 each. Inquire directly with Galerie Myrtis, located at 2224 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD. The gallery is open Thursday through Saturday, 2–6 PM, with Tuesday and Wednesday hours by appointment. Contact 410-235-3711.
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BRING THIS ITALIAN HOME
Order select Villa Schnosa wines in AprIl using Promo Code "PIGMENT20" and members receive 20% off purchases of 2+ bottles. 10% of orders during April will be donated to Pigment. International "
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