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Hair Pieces

Shih Yung-Chun, Braid Cabinet 2019, White Rabbit: Contemporary Chinese Art Collection, Sydney © Shih Yung-Chun, courtesy of Hive Centre for Contemporary Art in Beijing, China

Hair Pieces explores the evocative and complex significance of hair in contemporary culture through a selection of recent Australian and international works of art. For millennia hair has been a resonant and compelling site of meaning, transmitting ideas about gender, mythology, status and power, the body, psychology, feminism and notions of beauty.  At once radiant and repellent, and often richly symbolic, it has always assumed a particular importance in relation to the self, history and society. This exhibition examines the myriad ways in which artists utilise hair to investigate and conjure generative and even magical possibilities encompassing growth, empowerment and transformation.

Artists include: Marina Abramović (SRB/USA) and Ulay (GER/USA), Janine Antoni (US), Georgia Banks (AUS), Polly Borland (US), Sonia Boyce (UK), Christina May Carey (AUS), Sadie Chandler (AUS), Edith Dekyndt (BXL/BE), Karla Dickens (AUS), Jim Dine (US), Peter Ellis (AUS), Tarryn Gill (AUS), Mona Hatoum (UK/PS), Zhang Chun Hong (US), Lou Hubbard (AUS), Jiang Jian (CN), Nusra Latif Qureshi (AUS), John Meade (AUS), Ana Mendieta (US), Hayley Millar Baker (AUS), S.J Norman (US), J.D ‘Okhai Ojeikere (NRA), Patricia Piccinini (AUS), Rosslynd Piggott (AUS), Wes Placek (AUS), C. J Pyles (US), Chunxiao Qu (AUS), Julie Rrap (AUS), Charlie Sofo and Debris Facility (AUS), Christian Thompson (AUS), Kemang Wa Lehulere (SA), Helen Wright (AUS), Ai Yamaguchi (JPN), Shih Yung-Chun (TW), Louise Weaver (AUS), William Wegman (USA).

When
4 May – 6 October 2024
Location
Heide Galleries
Admission

Included with museum admission

Curator/s
Melissa Keys

Join Senior Curator Melissa Keys as she explores Hair Pieces.

Chunxiao Qu, Wig Shoes 2017, shoes, synthetic wig, 45 x 15 x 32cm, © the artist

Chunxiao Qu, Wig Shoes 2017, shoes, synthetic wig, 45 x 15 x 32cm, © the artist

Janine Antoni, Loving Care 1992, performance with Loving Care hair dye, Natural Black, dimensions variable, photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates at Anthony d’Offay Gallery, London, 1993 © Janine Antoni; Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York

Janine Antoni, Loving Care 1992, performance with Loving Care hair dye, Natural Black, dimensions variable, photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates at Anthony d’Offay Gallery, London, 1993 © Janine Antoni; Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York

Ana Mendieta, Untitled (Facial Hair Transplants) 1972, suite of seven colour photographs © The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co. Licensed by ARS, NY 2023 and Copyright Agency, Australia

Ana Mendieta, Untitled (Facial Hair Transplants) 1972, suite of seven colour photographs © The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection, LLC Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co. Licensed by ARS, NY 2023 and Copyright Agency, Australia

Ulay / Marina Abramović, Relation in Time 1977, video: 73’53” (black and white, sound), performance: 16 hours without the public, last hour of the the performance with the public present, Studio G7, Bologna, Italy © Marina Abramović and Ulay, courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives and LIMA Amsterdam

Ulay / Marina Abramović, Relation in Time 1977, video: 73’53” (black and white, sound), performance: 16 hours without the public, last hour of the the performance with the public present, Studio G7, Bologna, Italy © Marina Abramović and Ulay, courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives and LIMA Amsterdam

Christina May Carey, Hypnagogia 2021–24, HD video, desktop monitor, laptop, custom steel structure, extension leads, stereo sound and speakers, 91 x 150 x 80 cm © the artist

Christina May Carey, Hypnagogia 2021–24, HD video, desktop monitor, laptop, custom steel structure, extension leads, stereo sound and speakers, 91 x 150 x 80 cm © the artist

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