Nightfall I
Ken Gonzales-Day, American, born 1964
2007-2012
Digital pigment print
Ed. 1 of 5
Image: 35 × 47 in. (88.9 × 119.4 cm)
Sheet: 45 × 54 in. (114.3 × 137.2 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Elizabeth and David C. Lowenstein '67 Fund
2019.82
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
21st century
Object Name
Photograph
Research Area
Photograph
Not on view
Label
Ken Gonzales-Day investigates the underexamined history of lynching in the state of California by photographing trees that were weaponized for murder. Nightfall I is a speculative exercise—not necessarily an actual hang-tree but a tree the artist photographed while searching for such historic sites. A dramatic flash animates the tree and its outstretched branches against the night sky, urging consideration of its potential, as a living being, to serve as an archival source. As a nocturne, Nightfall I possesses a haunting quality in which nature serves as a witness to, or as part of, trauma.
From the 2022 exhibition This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Barbara J. MacAdam, former Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art; Thomas H. Price, former Curatorial Assistant; Morgan E. Freeman, former DAMLI Native American Art Fellow; and Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
"For almost two decades, Ken Gonzales Day has investigated the lesser-known histories of lynching in the Western United States, especially California. The photographs he produces based on his research do not reinscribe the violent spectacle of lynching, he instead interrogates the roles of the perpetrators and of place. In the series, Searching for California Hanging Trees, with the 2007 image, Fallen I comes from, he emphasizes place and asks the question: How is memory held in the specific location? Stylistically, it is reminiscent of Weege’s crime photography, in theme and tone Dawoud Bay’s project Night Coming Tenderly Black, and Sally Mann’s work, Deep South. The tree, caught in the flash of a camera, references the horrific photographs taken at lynchings, and used as a form of intimidation, souvenirs as well as documentation. The bare trunks, with roots snaking toward the viewer, isolated in the flashes glare, speak to histories that remain long after those who came to be entertained by murder have walked away and the bodies of the victims taken down." Alexandra Thomas, Curatorial Research Associate
Audio file transcription from the 2022 exhibition This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Barbara J. MacAdam, former Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art; Thomas H. Price, former Curatorial Assistant; Morgan E. Freeman, former DAMLI Native American Art Fellow; and Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
Course History
ANTH 7.05, Animals and Humans, Laura Ogden, Winter 2022
GEOG 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Winter 2022
ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022
ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Sienna Craig, Winter 2022
ARTH 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022
SPAN 65.15, Wonderstruck: Archives and the Production of Knowledge in an Unequal World, Silvia Spitta and Barbara Goebel, Summer 2022
Exhibition History
This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 5–July 22, 2022.
Provenance
Luis De Jesus Los Angeles (gallery), Los Angeles, California; sold to present collection, 2019.
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