Tag: hair

Robyn O’Neil at Susan Inglett Gallery

‘American Animals,’ an uncannily orderly yet apocalyptic vision of the heads of white men subsumed by waves of water or hair, dominates Robyn O’Neil’s current solo show at Susan Inglett Gallery.  Known for drawings that feature multitudes of middle-aged men wreaking various kinds of havoc, O’Neil suggests with this enormous drawing that the men are receiving their comeuppance, perhaps from a feminine force engulfing them with hair or from nature, overcoming them with waves of water.  Who are the men?  Why is their response to calamity so strangely passive?  O’Neil keeps us guessing with provocative questions. (On view in Chelsea through June 4th).

Robyn O’Neil, American Animals, graphite on canvas, 103 x 140 inches, 2020 – 2022.

Louise Giovanelli at GRIMM Gallery

Draped curtains, sparkling suits and partial viewers of singers’ faces summon the magic of the stage in British artist Louise Giovanelli’s paintings at GRIMM Gallery’s new Tribeca space.  Here, a carefully coifed wave of blond hair creates a bold, organic geometry that suggests a force of nature while testifying to the artifice of show-biz.  (On view through Oct 23rd).

Louise Giovanelli, Plexus, oil on canvas, 10 1/8 x 8 inches, 2021.

Kathia St Hilaire at Derek Eller Gallery

Three children forge ahead into the unknown on a boat made of braiding hair packaging in this oil-based relief collage on canvas by Yale MFA candidate Kathia St Hilaire.  A standout in Derek Eller Gallery’s current group show, St Hilaire’s image features kids venturing forth under a blazing sun to navigate their own identities and paths in life.  (On view on the Lower East Side through July 3rd).

Kathia St Hilaire, detail of 100% Kanekalon, oil-based relief collage on canvas, kanekalon braiding hair, 54.5 x 42 inches, 2018.

Max Hooper Schneider in ‘Mutations’ on the High Line

Locks of real and synthetic hair move like undersea plants in LA artist Max Hooper Schneider’s eye-catching aquarium installation on Manhattan’s High Line park. Long drawn to aquariums as hobby and art objects, the artist gathered materials from minerals to freeze-dried vegetables to create a seabed built from layers of consumer culture detritus. (On view through March 2018).

Max Hooper Schneider, Section of Intertidal Landscape (Hair Metastasis) on the High Line, July 2017.

Meschac Gaba at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

Buildings and monuments in the U.S. capital inspired Rotterdam & Benin-based artist Meschac Gaba’s latest synthetic-hair sculptures. Including (right to left) the White House, the U.S. Capitol and St John Episcopal Church, the sculptures represent a merger of African craft and sites of power. (On view at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through July 28th).

Installation view of Meschac Gaba at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, June, 2017 featuring at right, ‘White House,’ braided wig of synthetic hair, 35 x 20 x 14 inches, 2017.