By dawn’s early light
![Hank Willis Thomas, Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Us Around, 2015–2016](https://nasher.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/hankwillisthomas-450x289.jpg 1x, https://nasher.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/hankwillisthomas-768x494.jpg 2x)
The years 2024 and 2025 mark the sixtieth anniversaries of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The two Acts transformed life in the United States for many marginalized individuals, including people of color, women, people with disabilities, elders, and others who had not had equal rights in the nation’s history. This legislation was the culmination of nearly a century of work by activists and advocates.
By dawn’s early light reflects on the historical context against which these Acts came into being: the U.S. Constitution’s Preamble and the rights outlined in the First, Second, and Fourteenth Amendments. Each gallery features selections from the Nasher’s permanent collection that speak to these documents, questioning what it means to form a nation, to have a right to assemble, to own weapons, to pursue the American dream, and to define who “we the people” are.
![Kathryn Andrews, TRINITY FOR PRESIDENT aka Historical Campaign Poster Painting No. 3 (Manifest Destiny), 2015](https://nasher.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/kathryn-andrews-trinity-for-president-aka-historical-campaign-poster-painting-no-3-manifest-destiny-2015-768x866.jpg 1x, https://nasher.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/kathryn-andrews-trinity-for-president-aka-historical-campaign-poster-painting-no-3-manifest-destiny-2015-908x1024.jpg 2x)
![Gordon Parks, Invisible Man Retreat, Harlem, New York, 1952](https://nasher.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/gordon-parks-invisible-man-retreat-harlem-new-york-1952-365x450.jpg 1x, https://nasher.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/gordon-parks-invisible-man-retreat-harlem-new-york-1952-768x946.jpg 2x)
This exhibition invites us to ask ourselves: what do we hold dear and how are we using our voices to protect those things—our values—when we go to the polls in each election? The exhibition’s title is not only a quotation from the national anthem but also a metaphor for the start of a new day, the hope for fresh possibilities to collectively imagine new futures.
Artists
Kathryn Andrews, Adrián Balseca, Bill Bamberger, Roger Brown, Diego Camposeco, Kennedi Carter, Mel Chin, Dario Escobar, Leonard Freed, Genevieve Gaignard, Scherezade Garcia, Titus Brooks Heagins, Barkley L. Hendricks, Ken Heyman, Henry Horenstein, Dapper Bruce Lafitte, Michelangelo Lovelace, Danny Lyon, Mary Ellen Mark, Vik Muniz, Kambui Olujimi, Bill Owens, Gordon Parks, Fahamu Pecou, Ad Reinhardt, Gary Simmons, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Erika Stone, Lou Stouman, Sage Sohier, Sarah Sudhoff, Hank Willis Thomas, Burk Uzzle, Nari Ward, Antoine Williams, Fred Wilson, Purvis Young, and George Zimbel.
Organization & Support
This exhibition is organized by Xuxa Rodríguez, Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curator of Contemporary Art, with support from Julianne Miao, Curatorial Assistant.
By dawn’s early light is made possible by the Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family Fund for Exhibitions, the A. Courtney Shives Endowment Fund, the Frank Edward Hanscom Endowment, and the Janine and J. Tomilson Hill Family Fund.