This Morning, This Evening, So Soon
James Baldwin and the Voices of Queer Resistance

Polymode designed This Morning, This Evening, So Soon: James Baldwin and the Voices of Queer Resistance which accompanies the exhibition by the same title at the National Portrait Gallery curated by Rhea L. Combs. The catalogue was edited by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author Hilton Als and edited by Rhea L. Combs. 

The book brings together artworks that feature James Baldwin alongside portraits of other key figures who had an impact on his life and situates him among a pantheon of culture bearers who were instrumental in shaping his life and legacy, particularly in relationship to his advocacy for gay rights. Well-known portraits by Beauford Delaney and Bernard Gotfryd are shown alongside paintings, photographs and films representing key figures in Baldwin’s circle. By viewing Baldwin in this context of community, readers will come to understand how Baldwin’s sexuality and faith, artistic curiosities and notions of masculinity―coupled with his involvement in the civil rights movement―helped shape his writing and long-lasting legacy.

The book relies on portraiture to explore the interwoven lives of Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry (writer and activist), Barbara Jordan (lawyer, educator and politician), Bayard Rustin (leader in social movements), Lyle Ashton Harris (artist), Essex Hemphill (poet and activist), Marlon Riggs (filmmaker, poet and activist) and Nina Simone (singer-songwriter, pianist and activist), among others.