Exhibitions

Stars and Stripes Pride Protest Promise

BRIA STERLING WILSON
My American Gothic, 2025
Collage, found imagery, family archives
18.25 × 17 ″

Stars and Stripes: Pride, Protest & Promise

Opening Reception:
October 16th, from 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Exhibition runs October 16, 2026 – February 5, 2027.

In celebration of its twentieth anniversary, Galerie Myrtis will present Stars and Stripes: Pride, Protest & Promise, an exhibition examining the enduring symbolism of the American flag and the complex meanings of patriotism, from October 16, 2026, through February 5, 2027.

Marking both a significant milestone for Galerie Myrtis and a pivotal moment of national reflection, the exhibition coincides with the United States’ 250th anniversary. This historic occasion invites renewed consideration of the symbols, values, and narratives that have shaped the American experience—and of the ideals represented by the nation’s most enduring symbol: the American flag.
First explored by Galerie Myrtis in its 2008 exhibition Stars and Stripes: Pride or Despair, the subject returns nearly two decades later with renewed urgency. Through the perspectives of contemporary artists, the exhibition examines patriotism, belonging, identity, freedom, and the enduring tensions between the promise of America and the realities of the American experience.
The American flag endures as one of the nation’s most potent and contested symbols. It has flown over moments of profound progress and painful contradiction: the expansion of civil rights alongside their persistent contestation, democratic ideals shadowed by systemic inequities.
Drawing from the visual language of stars and stripes, the artists in this exhibition—representing diverse cultural, racial, and religious backgrounds—engage the flag not as a static icon, but as a living, evolving site of meaning. Their works celebrate resilience, sacrifice, and collective achievement while also challenging narratives that obscure histories of exclusion and unresolved injustice.
Situated within today’s charged political and social climate—marked by polarization, debates around belonging, and renewed demands for accountability, the exhibition asks what patriotism can and should mean in the present moment. The American flag becomes both mirror and measure, reflecting pride and grief, hope and dissent. These tensions are not framed as oppositional, but as inseparable forces that have always shaped the nation’s democratic project.
By returning to this theme at a pivotal historical moment, Galerie Myrtis underscores the enduring relevance of artistic inquiry in shaping civic imagination. Stars and Stripes: Pride, Protest & Promise, honors the struggles and triumphs that have expanded democracy’s reach, while inviting reflection on the work that remains. As the nation looks toward its next century, the exhibition affirms that celebration and critique are not contradictory acts, but essential components of an engaged, evolving democracy.
Featured Artists: Devin Allen, Lavett Ballard, Wesley Clark, Connor Czora, Tawny Chatmon, Morel Doucet, Ya La’Ford, Jerrell Gibbs, Susan Goldman, Monica Ikegwu, Ronald Jackson, Fabiola Jean-Louis, M. Scott Johnson, Megan Lewis, Lex Marie, Kim Rice, James Seward, and Felandus Thames.
Exhibitions

An American Fiction – Ronald Jackson

An American Fiction

Opening Reception:
Saturday, September 5th, from 2:00 – 6:00

Artist Talk: October 3rd, from 2:00 – 4:00 (RSVP REQUIRED)

The exhibit will run September 5 – October 3, 2026.

view artwork

Galerie Myrtis is proud to present “An American Fiction,” a solo exhibition showcasing new paintings by Ronald Jackson. This presentation marks a compelling new chapter in Jackson’s ongoing exploration of identity, memory, and portraiture. The exhibit introduces a vibrant cast of characters drawn from a fictional narrative inspired by Percival Everett’s novel “Erasure,” alongside elements from its film adaptation directed by Cord Jefferson.

Artist Statement
I create and paint characters who belong to stories that are yet to be written.
My work begins in the private space of invention—creating individuals out of imagination, and then imagining how their lives intersect within an unmade world. Drawing inspiration from the satirical humor of American Fiction and the layered storytelling of Percival Everett’s Erasure, this series frames each portrait as a casting list or a production still from an unrealized screenplay titled An American Fiction.
Through detailed and cinematic titles, each figure is cast twice over: as a character holding a specific station in an untold narrative, and as a fictional actor playing the part. Some of these figures wear masks—a motif that has been central to my practice, suggesting that there is something to be discovered. I use the mask not to conceal, but to signal that a rich, unexcavated narrative exists beneath the surface. It asks the viewer to consider what lies beyond the visible role, prompting a question central to performance: are we admiring the superficial? Do we distinguish between the performer and the character being played? Do we recognize that there is likely a very different reality than the one being presented to us?
In the film American Fiction, the protagonist, Monk, describes his creative process with striking simplicity: “I just invent little people in my mind and make them have conversations with each other.” That spark of pure imagination—the freedom to build characters simply because they are interesting—is the foundation of my interest in creating characters inside imagined stories.
I choose to convey imagery with a quiet and subtle touch of magical realism, where things feel just slightly outside of the ordinary. With AN AMERICAN FICTION, I set a stage that teeters on the edges of the fantastical. I present characters that occupy spaces within the deliberate mysteries of an unfinished story – an unfinished story that only develops further when in collaboration with the viewer’s imagination.
— Ronald Jackson
Art Fairs

The Armory Show -2025 – Booth Page

Art Fairs

The Armory Show – 2025

The Armory Show

September 5–7, 2025

Javits Center
429 11th Avenue
New York, NY 10001
Ticket Information

Galerie Myrtis – Booth F1

Jerrell Gibbs | Ronald Jackson
Bria Sterling-Wilson | Felandus Thames

view artwork | view catalog

The Armory Show opens New York’s fall art season by bringing the world’s leading international contemporary and modern art galleries to the Javits Center each year. The fair emphasizes thoughtful programming, elevated presentations, curatorial excellence, meaningful institutional partnerships, and engaging public art activations.

Galerie Myrtis will make its debut at The Armory Show, featuring artwork in a special exhibition titled Focus. The exhibition highlights artists and galleries of the American South—a vital region to the American art landscape, and home to some of the country’s most celebrated artists—investigating the region as a nexus for diverse populations and a pillar in contemporary American art.

Exhibitions

The Brave: Affirming Power, Presence & Possibility

The Brave: Affirming Power, Presence & Possibility

August 30 – October 11, 2025

Opening Reception
Saturday, August 30 | 6:00 – 8:00 PM

view artwork

Galerie Myrtis is pleased to present The Brave: Affirming Power, Presence & Possibility, a powerful group exhibition curated by Myrtis Bedolla. On view from August 30 through October 11, 2025, the exhibition features contemporary artists whose work explores the emotional, historical, and imaginative landscapes of the African diaspora.

Inspired by the anthemic lyrics of Danielle Ponder’s Some of Us Are Brave, the exhibition centers artists who examine the complexities of Black freedom, the weight of injustice, and the radical potential of self-definition. Through painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, and installation, The Brave calls forth a collective testimony that honors ancestral strength, celebrates embodied truth, and demands space for joy, grief, intimacy, and transformation.

Featured artists: Devin Allen, Lavett Ballard, Wesley Clark, Jerrell Gibbs, Fabiola Jean-Louis, Felandus Thames, Megan Lewis, Delita Martin, Ronald Jackson, M. Scott Johnson, Ya La’Ford, James Seward, and Bria Wilson-Sterling.

Art Fairs

Expo Chicago 2024

Booth # 405

VIP Preview Day
Thursday, April 11th | 12:00 – 9:00pm

Public Hours
Friday, April 12th | 11:00am – 7:00pm
Saturday, April 13th | 11:00am – 7:00pm
Sunday, April 14th | 11:00am – 6:00pm

Galerie Myrtis is pleased to announce our forthcoming debut at EXPO Chicago. The booth will showcase contemporary artists who explore the cultural, social, and political landscapes of our world while showcasing the beauty of humanity.

artwork | exhibition catalog

Booth Concept
Galerie Myrtis presents “Intersections of Identity,” featuring the extraordinary works of painters Monica Ikegwu, Megan Lewis and Ronald Jackson, and master printmaker Delita Martin.

The concept explores the rich tapestry of individual and collective identities, highlighting the artists’ unique perspectives and their profound contributions to the contemporary art landscape.

Presented artworks will delve into the complex intersections of race, gender, and culture, showcasing the artists’ distinct artistic approaches and their exploration of personal narratives and societal experiences. Through their respective mediums, Ikegwu, Lewis, Jackson, and Martin bring forth powerful and thought-provoking imagery that challenges traditional notions of identity and celebrates diversity.



Artworks

Exhibitions

Ronald Jackson – Solo Exhibition

Ronald Jackson: Solo Exhibition
June 25th – August 31, 2022

Opening Reception
Saturday, June 25, 2-6 pm

view artwork | artist talk | statement | bio | resume | press

Galerie Myrtis is pleased to announce Ronald Jackson’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. In this show, Jackson, a figurative painter, draws from his vivid and boundless imagination to construct a fantastical world habited by Johnnie Mae King, aka Aunt Johnnie. Known for creating work focused on the Great Migration, the artist leads us down a different path in his new body of work. Here, the narrative focuses on a single character and the notion of a Black woman’s uninhibited existence. For Johnnie, it is a life free of social constraints such as racial discrimination and gender politics.

Jackson depicts Aunt Johnnie in playful figurations and portrayals of acts of defiance. Lush vegetation binds Johnnie’s various exploits offering dramatic surroundings to her stylized couture. Her identity is concealed by the artist’s traditional masking technique or hidden behind whimsical eyeglasses that serve as devices to draw viewers into Aunt Johnnie’s imaginary world, one of fantasy, freedom, and reckless abandonment.

“Johnnie’s imagination allows her to dream uninhibited, free to do what she wants to do and be whatever she wants to be. Much like a time traveler, her mind allows her to explore the possibilities of navigating other places, times, and dimensions.” Ronald Jackson

Ronald Jackson
Untitled, 2022
Oil on canvas
60 x 72 ″

Press

Ronald Jackson – PRESS

PRESS

Artnet News, February 24, 2020
Arkansas’s Crystal Bridges Museum Just Opened a Sprawling Show About… (featuring Ronald Jackson) by Ben Davis

…Curated by Lauren Haynes—a transplant from the Studio Museum in Harlem—with Alejo Benedetti and Allison Glenn, the result is a 61-artist survey, shared between the cheese-factory chic of the Momentary’s new galleries and the bucolic luxury of Crystal Bridges. full article

BMORE Art, July 2018
BLACK PORTRAITURE: FABRIC, FACE, AND FORM by Angela N. Carroll

The contemporary art world is experiencing a renaissance in Black portraiture. A new generation of master realist painters like Kehinde Wiley, T. Eliott Mansa, Jas Knight and Ronald Jackson build upon a foundation laid by earlier figurative artists like Charles White, Augusta Savage, John Biggers, and Elizabeth Catlett. full article

press-city-pressCity Paper, December 14, 2016
ESCAPE TO MIAMI: Baltimore goes to Art Basel

Galerie Myrtis – SPECTRUM ART FAIR: On the mainland, in Wynwood, Galerie Myrtis efficiently uses nearly every inch of its space, located in a breezy, visible spot near the back at Spectrum, showing work by Delita Martin, Morel Doucet, Anna U. Davis, Michael Gross, Ronald Jackson, and Jamea Richmond-Edwards. This is Myrtis’ first time at this fair – full article

press-international-reviewInternational Review of African American Art, 2015
Stayin Alive

…In this show S. Ross Browne, Nina Buxenbaum, Larry Judah Cook, Ronald Jackson, T. Elliott Mansa, Delita Martin and Arvie Smith draw from the familiar and the imagined to reinscribe the notion of blackness within the context of self. full article

Exhibitions

A Passion for Collecting-The Vision of Louis Allan Ford

A Passion for Collecting: The Vision of Louis Allan Ford (1942-2020)

October 30 – January 29, 2022
by appt. only

Featured Artists: Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Allan Rohan Crite, David Driskell, Victor Ekpuk, Sam Gilliam, Ronald Jackson, Lois Mailou Jones, Joseph Holston, Charles Sebree, Alma Thomas, James Wells, and many more…

view artwork | view exhibition catalog

A Passion for Collecting: The Vision of Louis Allan Ford is a testament to Ford’s cultural pride and the legacy he built through collecting. As a patron of the arts, Louis Ford was a familiar and beloved figure on the Washington metropolitan art scene. His passion for African and African American art is reflected in the collection he amazed of nearly two hundred items. Ford acquired utilitarian and ceremonial objects of West Africa and historically significant works of art created by prominent and emerging contemporary artists. He was also a treasure hunter and was known for discovering rare works at estate sales and auction houses.

Ford was a graduate of Dunbar High School and Howard University. He was a lifetime member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Ford served in the U.S. Air Force and after a brief stint in the federal government found his niche in real estate, creating opportunities for homeownership for many African American families.


Audio excerpts: In 2010 Louis Ford took part in the Art of the Collectors II discussion at Galerie Myrtis.