Now Open

... before the dawn

Lita Albuquerque, Lisa Beck, Christopher Robin Duncan, Lia Halloran, David Huffman, Gary Lang, Charles Long, Jonathan Ryan, Penelope Umbrico

Sep 11 – Nov 14

SECRIST | BEACH
Gallery

SECRIST | BEACH

1801 W Hubbard St, Chicago, IL 60622

Tue-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 11am-5pm, Sun-Mon Closed

Admission

🎁

Free Admission

About

Survey exhibition _… before the dawn_ brings together an intergenerational group of nine artists whom explore the enduring artistic, psychological and philosophical pull of the moon and the nocturnal sky. Sharing formal and existential curiosities, the participating artists engage the night as both a site of observation and imagination, where scientific inquiry, mythology, memory, and lived experience converge. _… before the dawn_ considers the conceptual landscape suspended between our earthly vantage point and the celestial body that has long shaped humanity's understanding of time, nature, and the cosmos. Simultaneously familiar and unknowable, the moon occupies a singular place within our collective imagination, serving as both a scientific frontier and a symbol of longing, transformation, and transcendence. The exhibition embraces these overlapping perspectives, inviting viewers to reflect on the profound relationship between the terrestrial and the celestial, the measurable and the mysterious. At a moment when ecological instability, political uncertainty, and technological acceleration have intensified awareness of our own vulnerability, _… before the dawn_ asks what it means to look beyond ourselves. The exhibition encourages a shift away from an anthropocentric worldview—one that positions humanity as the center of existence—towards an understanding of our place within interconnected cosmic systems. Against the turbulence of everyday life, the night sky offers a rare encounter with scale, permanence, and perspective. The artists in _… before the dawn_ extend a centuries-long artistic lineage that has found inspiration in the night sky, while offering a contemporary sensibility to this timeless subject. Working across painting, sculpture, photography, and interdisciplinary practices, each artist constructs a deeply personal relationship with the moon as image, object, metaphor, and presence. Together, their works collapse the vastness of the cosmos into intimate encounters, transforming an ancient celestial constant into a moment in time that embraces an individual's ability to reflect on perception, belonging, wonder, and the fragile conditions of life on Earth.

Tags

paintingsculpturephotographyinterdisciplinarycontemporarymoonnight skycelestial
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