NXTHVN Show Relaxes Into Liberation

Sarah Zapata’s installation, at NXTHVN on Henry Street in Dixwell, is as fantastical as it is welcoming. From the various seating options (beanbag chairs!) to the thick carpet to the choice of colors for all of it, the installation invites the viewer to chill. But there’s something surreal about it, too, the way it crawls up the walls and onto the ceiling, so the rugs hang down from overhead instead of being underfoot, like most rugs. It’s possible to imagine sitting down in the chairs, and having gravity change on you, so you’re sitting on the ceiling, looking at the floor. So Zapata’s installation encourages imaginative exercise while relaxing. In short, it lets us dream.

The piece is part of ​“Deserve What You Dream,” curated by Marissa Del Toro and running now through Sept. 1. ​“Why do you dream? How do you dream? What do you dream of?” an accompanying statement reads. “ ​‘Deserve What You Dream’ encourages viewers to rest and find a moment of reprieve. Sleep is a critical aspect of a well-balanced and healthy life. 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 discriminiation, financial concerns, environmental stressors, medical care inequities, and acculturation to a dominant culture, add to these disparities.”

“Tricia Hersey’s 2022 book, Rest is Resistance, proposes 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 the liberation to simply exist and daydream.” That extends to an invitation to do exactly that, to spend time in the gallery and adjacent space, not necessarily to do anything — to just lounge, relax, and be. One implication: that’s when the dreams, the good ideas, come.

Jihyun Lee’s pieces follow a similar dream logic, as the abstract pieces (especially with the title as a prompt) can be understood as maps, from someplace to someplace. The details of what we might find on the journey are unclear — or perhaps they’re for us to create for ourselves.

Derrick Adams’s pieces partake of vivid colors to convey a sense of playfulness that perhaps disarms viewers enough to prepare them for a serious point. The image is just of five people floating in a pool, their drinks incongruously given their own flotation device. But it’s also an image of easy racial harmony that one doesn’t see often, either in art or real life.

As Sarah Zapata’s installation transforms NXTHVN’s gallery, so the show itself transforms NXTHVN’s indoor and outdoor spaces beyond the gallery’s confines. The chillness of NXTHN’s larger lounge area next to the gallery is amplified by works by Zapata and Lee that are installed there, warming up the space and giving it additional visual interest that encourages lingering. 

Meanwhile, Isaac Bloodworth’s vinyl installation in NXTHVN’s windows exudes a sense of freedom and leisure. The scene wraps around the entire front of the building; it may take viewers a minute to find the central character, in sunglasses, just riding a wave. But there’s no mistaking the vibe. On one level the images tap into a certain childlike wonder, akin to children’s book illustrations. On another, deeper level, they ask viewers to imagine a carefree life, to imagine what that would feel like, to have all one’s worries taken away. For just a minute, maybe it’s possible to actually feel that. And doesn’t everyone deserve that?

“Deserve What You Dream” runs at NXTHVN, 169 Henry St., through Sept. 1, with a family movie night at 5 p.m. on July 26 and an art-and-sip at 5 p.m. on Aug. 9. Visit NXTHVN’s website for more information.