vFd and Central Saint Martins MA Culture, Criticism and Curation present
Hair Matters
9th - 29th November 2018
Curators Tour & Media View: Fri 9th November at the vFd Outsiders Gallery, 6 - 7pm
Finissage: Thu 29th November at vFd, 8pm until late
#hairmattersvfd
Locations of art interventions:
Outsiders Gallery, vFd, 66 Stoke Newington Road, London N16 7XB
Rainbow Launderette, 10 Stoke Newington Road, London, N16 7XN
Tattoo Age, 13 Stoke Newington Road, London, N16 8BH
Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High Street, London, E8 2PB
Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, 13 Dalston Lane, London, E8 3DF
vFd and Central Saint Martins MA Culture, Criticism and Curation students are delighted to present Hair Matters , an exhibition that examines the social and cultural symbolism of hair in the 21st century. From the ballroom drag scene in New York City, to the anarchic rebellion against heteronormativity - hair has always been a significant placeholder for the relation of the queer body and space. This exhibition features work by six young, queer artists who explore the personal and political significance of hair and body hair as incredibly charged symbols of identity. The public interventions include photo manipulations, work with textiles, collage material, graphic design, ephemera and audio material.
Artworks:
Sadé Mica: Now What? (2018)
Sadé Mica is a multidisciplinary artist from Manchester, and describes their work as being about the experiences of a “fat, queer, black person”. Sadé’s subtle, intricate yet thought provoking work centres on the relationship of the body and space, using textiles, print and film as means to do this. Sadé’s work was featured as part of the BBZBLKBLK Alternative Graduate Show at the Copeland Gallery in Peckham in July 2018, and they were recently commissioned to produce a film by Tate Collective for Black History Month.
Roma Havers: You Used To Be So Beautiful (2018)
Roma Havers is a 23 year old queer, Manchester-based poet and performer, recently graduated from her MA in Creative Writing. She has performed poetry with Young Identity and independently, for Push Festival and HOME, Manchester International Festival, Hay Festival, BBC Contains Strong Language and Manchester Histories. She is currently working on her one-woman show, Bolted, which explores the agoraphobic experience and has been picked up for the first showing at UKYA Nottingham Takeover. This piece titled ’You Used To Be So Beautiful’ uses photography and sound to humanise the story behind why she chose to grow out her moustache.
Alex Noble: The Three Of Us: Judge, Jury, Executioner (2018) & I’m The Mary (2018)
Alex Noble is an artist who was born in South London. His art practice has always touched on themes of theology, mythology and ideas of existence and consists of painting, 3D mixed media work and self portraiture photography. Alex has exhibited internationally in Madrid, Shanghai, Amsterdam and London, including a large solo show at the Londonewcastle project space in East London in 2014.
Chaz Howkins: Chadlotte (series) (2016) & Expectations (2018)
Chaz Howkins is a multidisciplinary conceptual artist based in London. Chaz recently graduated from Loughborough University, studying Fine Art. Chaz's practice has a focus on gender, critiquing the difference between gender expression and gender identity. Chaz has had solo exhibitions in Loughborough, Leicester and Perth and has exhibited widely across the UK and Western Australia.
Travis Alabanza: My Stubble Has No Gender (2018)
Travis Alabanza is a spoken word performer and poet. Much of their work centres around being a non-binary person of colour. Travis has become an enigmatic part of the queer community in the past few years, with their show ‘Burgerz’ selling out the Hackney Showroom. Travis’ piece in Hair Matters was produced in collaboration with Denny Kaulbach, and interrogates gendered norms when it comes to body hair, primarily within the trans-femme community.
Angel Rose: Excesstential Balloon 1 (2018)
Angel Rose is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice spans performance, writing, video, and printed media. In 2015, she obtained an MA in Performance and Visual Practice from University of Brighton. Her work has been exhibited internationally and shown in spaces such as Centre Pompidou, The ICA, Somerset House, The Residence Gallery, and The British Film Institute. She currently lives in Hastings, where she teaches art history and theory at University Centre Hastings.
About the curators
The curators of this exhibition are six MA Culture, Criticism and Curation students from Central Saint Martins: Indira Béraud, Avril Bown, Mia Cormack, Rosa Droogers, Rhiannon Edwards and Bea Redweik.
