Deserve What You Dream
8th June, 2024 – 1st September , 2024
NXTHVN
169 Henry St.
New Haven, CT 06511
NXTHVN is pleased to present Deserve What You Dream, an exhibition featuring works by Derrick Adams, Isaac Bloodworth, Jihyun Lee and Sarah Zapata. The exhibition is on view from Saturday, June 8 to Sunday, September 1, 2024, with an opening reception on Saturday, June 8, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
A resilience of things not seen, installation detail at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2022. Courtesy of the artist.
This selection of works provides a space of respite and rest for viewers to experience the liberation of daydreaming. Through an intentionally curated arrangement of furniture dispersed amongst the works on view that offer lounging and reclination, NXTHVN encourages viewers to relax, daydream and compose poetry with their bodies in the gallery while contemplating the following prompts: “Why do you dream? How do you dream? What do you dream of?”
Doll Shelf_Red Scene 3, 4, 2023. Watercolor painted stuffed cotton objects in various sizes, found objects, yarn, felt, plaster stone, sewing pins, clay stands, glass bottles, painted porcelain, wooden shelf, red-tinted plexiglass, 19 ¼ × 37 ½ × 7 ½ inch. Courtesy of the artist and Arario Gallery.
The exhibition is curated by Marissa Del Toro, NXTHVN’s assistant director of programs and exhibitions. Deserve What You Dream invites visitors to sit and rest while gazing at leisurely pool scenes of Black joy from Derrick Adams’ Floater painting series; abstract paintings of musings and intuitive thoughts by New Haven-based artist Jihyun Lee; and intricate sculptures and latch-hooked rugs by Sarah Zapata throughout NXTHVN’s gallery and aula spaces; along with a vinyl window install of Adventures of Joy Da Black Boi from New Haven-based artist Isaac Bloodworth.
Historically, Black individuals and people of color have a higher rate of sleeping issues, ranging from low-quality sleep to short and long sleeping hours. Several contributing factors, such as physical and emotional stress from racial discrimination, financial concerns, environmental stressors, medical care inequities and acculturation to a dominant culture add to these disparities.
At NXTHVN, when working with artists from marginalized backgrounds we are continually reminded how important it is to create space for rest and relaxation,” said Del Toro. “We witness firsthand how BIPOC communities struggle to balance a multitude of stressors, with sleep often being the first sacrifice. We hope visitors leave our gallery feeling restored and hopeful.”
Tracking the thinking path, 2024.
Oil pastel, acrylic, graphite, pastel, oil on unprimed canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Arario Gallery.
With sleep being a critical aspect of a well-balanced and healthy life, this exhibition encourages viewers to rest and find a moment of reprieve. Tricia Hersey’s 2022 book, “Rest is Resistance,” proposes that when we allow our bodies to rest and nap, we resist the status quo and provide ourselves “a portal to imagine, invent and heal.” Included artworks encourage viewers to slow down and relish in the pleasures of the here and now and to engage in a path of imagination, healing and liberation to simply exist and dream.
Deserve What You Dream opens on the 8th of June, 2024 until the 1st of September, 2024 at NXTHVN
©2024 NXTHVN
Art Plugged is a contemporary platform inspired by a relationship with the broader arts communities. We provide our audience with curated insight into the world of art, from exhibitions to artist interviews and more.
