Gallery 210 director Terry Suhre (left) talked on St. Louis Public Radio with artists Brett Williams and Deborah Alma Wheeler about their work in the exhibit “Exposure 18: Nervous Laughter.” (Photo courtesy of Áine O’Conner/ St. Louis Public Radio)

That uncomfortable feeling you get when a topic turns into a taboo subject and you’re overcome with uneasiness so you respond with nervous laughter? That’s the idea behind the latest exhibition at the Gallery 210 at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

The exhibit, “Nervous Laughter,” opened Aug. 29 and will run through Oct. 3. It’s the work of three St. Louis artists who have come together to challenge and expose social norms.

Artists Aimee Howard, Deborah Alma Wheeler and Brett Williams hope to expose social contemporary issues addressing medical ethics, sexuality and the self in contemporary culture.

Wheeler and Williams, along with Gallery 210 director Terry Suhre, discussed the exhibition recently on “Cityscape” on St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU.

“The title of the exhibit reflects the uncomfortable poignancy of the art,” Suhre told St. Louis Public Radio. “The situations audience members find themselves in may be emotionally and intellectually overwhelming.”

One of Wheeler’s pieces is a school desk with a side-view mirror attached. She said growing up in a small Illinois town, that sense of always watching her back and checking behind her was real.

“For me, it was about … being that minority in the classroom,” Wheeler told the station. “A minority in race, gender, sexuality or anything else.”

Visit the Gallery 210 website to learn more about the “Nervous Laughter” exhibit. Visit the St. Louis Public Radio website to listen to the full interview on St. Louis Public Radio.