10 Beds:
Paraphernalia’Beds have always caused strong emotions in the
human heart and have many superstitions.’
Mary Eden (1961)
The bed takes us to strange, mystical and sometimes violent places, and as Virginia Woolf (Room of One’s Own,1929) and Charlotte Perkins-Gilman’s, (Yellow Wallpaper,1892) knew, a bedroom can be as much a sanctuary as a prison. It can be disturbing, disorientating, homely, or homeless, uncanny and contradictory, and artists have expressed the place of the bed as birth, sex, death. Through art it can enhance our understanding of the everyday through the metaphor of the bed. The reason therefore I am promoting this exhibition is because I wish to bring to public attention by illustrating the ever changing but constant responsiveness, of the bed in art.
The exhibition attempts to chart the mid-20 th Century and early 21 st Century in our understanding of the use of the bed in art in our everyday life because it is a recurring theme for artists. There are four distinct themes to the exhibition highlighting key changes in the concept of the bed. The Muse, in the old master traditional portrait, The anti-muse symbolising the female stereotype, the femme fatale dramatically posed and sexually charged a voyeuristic approach of looking as objects of desire, adequately described by Berger(1997) as the ‘Male Gaze.’ The Sexual feminist perspective of the mid-late 20 th Century, socially committed art and the self-confessional viewpoint.
‘10 Beds’ is unique because there has never previously been a collection of artists portrayal of beds bought together illustrating tradition old masters, sexual awareness, social commentary and emotional feelings over a significant time period. The exhibition may surprise some people because of the number of beds but it will demonstrate connections to our past and to the future through painted images and installations.
It is contended that an examination of common facets between the artists, hitherto unrecognised, illustrate a poignant potency and a powerful vigour in art and will demonstrate a significant shift by contemporary artists who are shaping a new attitude to the significance of the bed and its paraphernalia.
The exhibition will examine iconic work by artists, because, despite the apparent differences between the images and assemblages there is a unique affinity and close parallels. These parallels are the repetitive spectrum, shared spaces, absence/presence of the form on/in an the bed and the fabric and paraphernalia which accompanies the state of the individual bed. It identifies sociological and psychological threads that tie together a disparate group of work. Though artists have made use of the bed to demonstrate different issues their contribution is underpinned by social and psychological theory therefore it becomes a powerful reminder how important the phenomenon of the bed is in art (Nye1992). ‘The play between ornament, pattern and drape associated with the bed has deep social and psychological roots and serves as a visual metaphor for communitas,’ (Pocius 1979). The similarities and contrasts highlights different styles and personal vocabulary.
The context of this exhibition is within the changing International art perspective of the 21
st
Century but unities significant artists in the history of art. Though it will cover several decades of artists impressions of the bed the real context is set within the changing international art scene in London. Gleadowe (2003) suggests that the changing art scene surrounding performance, time-based, constructionist sculptures, political art and installation has become the trend with a definite shift away from the 90’s irony to socially committed art or art about everyday situations. However because of the historical nature of this exhibition, this show firmly places the bed not only in socially committed art but a mixture of everyday trends in 20
th
Century and beyond related to the bed and the paraphernalia it encompasses.
10 Beds is a curatorial choice, however it is purposefully open and recognises that there are many ‘as important’ examples for development which could capture the themes of social and psychological issues, paraphernalia of everyday objects, textile, spaces, absence and presence. Jessica Morgan (2005) suggests that the curatorial approach to exhibitions and to collections is different. In the collection the curator has more scope to document personal and biased stated shows whereas in an exhibition the curator is influenced by the artist. Mieke Bal (1992) concurs in her critique ‘Telling, Showing, Showing Off’ an analysis of the American Museum of Natural History. Aware of this influence, and to produce a cohesive exhibition personal liaison with international artists will be achieved, ensuring artistic bias to the exhibition. The rationale for the choice of work is to facilitate different visual codes and imagery to connect the recurring themes related to the bed.
Curators currently use a verity of domestic spaces, combining art with non-art objects. The trend famously instigated by artists, Damian Hirst and Carl Freedman in the 90’s raised the young British art scene profile. Freelance Curator, Toby Webster’s message to wannabe curators is simple, 'It's about following instincts - seeing things you like and following them,' (Natram 2003). Iwona Blazwick, recent Director of The Whitechapel Gallery, also says, 'I started out as an artist, but I had an epiphany.’ 'I think that the best curators tend to be artists.' She says. 'They just don't bother following the rules'(Gleadowe 2003). This proposed exhibition is therefore relevant to the above philosophy of ‘following one’s instinct.’
