LAURA SCHAFFER Nina Felshin, currator of the "Embedded Metaphors" exhibit at Zilkha Gallery, leads a group of gallery patrons through a collection of works about beds from 26 different artists.

Zilkha Exhibit Knows Where You Sleep Curator Nina Felshin Explores Various Artistic Renderings of the Bed By Jesse Hassenger Contributing Writer

In a world full of universal symbols and connotations, the bed is an object, a concept, that stands out when given some thought, but is not always given its due. Bed advocates need search no further, however; the Zilkha Gallery’s current exhibit features a strange (and strangely transfixing) collection of works entitled "Embedded Metaphors." It contains photographs and even some occasional multimedia by 26 different artists, but the primary attraction is, well, beds.

Walking into the gallery is a quietly surreal experience. Some of the beds skirt on the edge of normality; others play with the concept of "bed" (as in, "of nails"). All of them are compelling. Many walks of life are represented in the works, and the manner in which these very real beds sometimes veer into dreamlike or fanciful states can be gratifyingly unnerving. The artists attempt to drive home their points (often deliberately ambiguous) in a variety of intriguing ways. Many of the exhibits speak more fluently for themselves than words ever could.

Nina Felshin, the Gallery’s exhibit curator, said a prominent issue the exhibit raises is the "underbelly of childhood" — a dark side to the simple brightness often associated with youth. Felshin stylistically compared certain works to some of the darker-toned fairy-tales and nursery rhymes, such as "Rock-a-Bye Baby" and "Red-Riding Hood:" they are not outwardly threatening, but contain an aura of the bizarre or the foreboding. "In the nineties, a lot of art has addressed childhood," she noted. Other beds express feelings about repression of sexuality, of art, or of freedom. The piece entitled "Keep Your Laws Off My Body" was created by two lesbian partners in direct response to Jesse Helms’s crusade against "obscene" art. The bed’s sheets are printed with repressive legislation, and alongside the bed is a TV, showing a video intercutting footage of a lesbian couple and police wearing riot gear at an ACT-up demonstration. Religion, Felshin said, is frequently addressed in relation to confinement and oppression (by both those within religions and those on the outside that attempt to undermine it). One of the most effective pieces is Mel Chin’s "Jilava Prison Bed." Chin took the Amnesty International case of a Romanian orthodox priest jailed as a political prisoner due to his beliefs. The bed is stark and cross-shaped, with five spikes protruding from the cotton mattress, meant to resemble a crucifix. Nearly all the exhibits, Felshin noted, "converge upon the subject of the body."

COURTESTY ZILKHA GALLERY Mel Chin’s "Jilava Prison Bed" is among the pieces featured at Zilkha Gallery through October 16.

Indeed, one of the most subtly striking aspects of the show is the emptiness of the beds. Bodies, Felshin said, have been a dominating presence in recent modern art; here, it is the absence of bodies that opens the exhibits to personal, individual reflection and projection. The uncomfortable nature of many of the beds — some look notably impractical as components of actual sleeping quarters — cleverly raises questions about "body issues" without actually showing the bodies that might lie or sit, awake or asleep, in these bizarre works.

Some of the artists’ messages may seem obvious, while others may appear completely obtuse. AIDS, sexual politics, homelessness and abortion rights are some prominent topics addressed. While there are some official explanations such as the one Felshin provided above for Chin’s work, the enthusiastic and informative curator stressed that "a lot of these works can read in different ways," and projecting yourself, from your own reactions and feelings, onto the art, is one of the most fascinating aspects of collectively experiencing the exhibit.

The exhibition runs from September 8 through October 16 at the Zilkha Gallery in the Center for the Arts. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, from 12-4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday afternoons, from 2-5.