Most shows begin when the curtains rise, but at Galerie Poller (547 West 27th St., NY) the curtains are the show. It may seem a tad too avant-garde to photograph the very tapestries you ignore while pretending to leaf through your playbill while you scan the room for a closer seat, but Joachim Schulz’s “lichtspiele” shows that art lurks in the shadows of even the most overlooked items.

Shultz proves what directors already know: even the minutest of details sets the tone for a stage production. Each photograph is approximately the same size and presents the curtains from the same angle: from top to bottom, but with no elaborate overhead or scuffed-up wooden floor peaking out from underneath. Therefore, the color of the curtains and their individual texture take center stage as the photographer shows the implications of lighting.

During a play, when the spotlight zeroes in on one of the characters, your attention focuses on the actor. However, when the spotlight hovers on a curtain, you notice the light instead of the object of its attention, as evidenced in “cinestar hagen, grün,” “cinestar bremen, rot,” and “cineplex bremen Schwarz.” Similarly, the four pillars of lights in “cineplex münster, rotgrün” draw your attention away from the mere fabric. The bright orb of a spotlight becomes its own show as the audience expectantly waits for the curtains to rise so the show can begin.

Since the curtains never rise in Schulz’s photographs, it is the less-obvious lighting that truly brings out the beauty of the curtains. The close ups reveals a labyrinth of deep folds that shelter the stage from hordes of prying eyes. Red curtains are ablaze with subtle lighting. Several photographs romanticize the curtains to such an extent that the tapestries resemble an evening gown. But, “cinemaxx wuppertal, bunt” looks like the tacky drapes you’d find in a suburban concert hall.

The photographs will be on display through March 17. If an exhibit devoted solely to stage curtains is too abstract for your taste, don’t rule Schulz out completely. There are some rather quirky works on his interactive website.