A haircut is a powerful thing: it can get you a date, add or subtract minutes from your morning routine, change the shape of your cheekbones, or (if you’re Jared Leto) spark a worldwide ombré mania. According to a new exhibit, it's also a reflection of your identity. Queenies, Fades, and Blunts, a pop-up art show Saturday in Greenpoint organized by London collective the LONELY LONDONERS, brought together work modeled off beauty parlors and barbershops, aiming to examine what grooming habits and beauty spaces say about culture.
Three kids from London probably aren't who you'd expect behind a barbershop-themed exhibit in Brooklyn. But the Lonely Londoners, whose name comes from Trinidadian author Samuel Selvon's 1956 novel, are more interested in breaching cultural boundaries than adhering to them. "The exhibit is also about the experience of being queer in a barbershop," said Kareem Reid, one third of the collective. As for the exhibit's name? "'Queenies was our way of remixing and making new an older gay slang term," Kareem explained. "'Fades' is a reference to barbershop fade. And "Blunts'..." he trailed off, laughing.
Kareem, who finished his university film degree last year, met fellow Lonely Londoner Rianna, a writer and feminist activist, and Pelin, a foodie who studied international development, the way lots of artists do today: on Tumblr. All in their early twenties and the children of first- or second-generation immigrants, the three finally met in person at a meditation class after following each other's accounts for years. Since, the collective––which actually prefers the label "art house" in tribute to ballroom culture's houses––has organized film screenings, group shows, and performance pieces on topics like the racial experience of albino families in Puerto Rico and rising unemployment among UK youth. Queenies, Fades, and Blunts was their first project in NYC, and next month, they'll be turning it into a zine.
In an age when it seems like every 20-something artist is part of a COLLECTIVE, it's refreshing to find one based not only on aesthetic similarities but shared political goals. "Our work is based on real aspects of culture and trying to make things as unpretentious as possible," said Kareem. "We all need to get our hair cut. We all need to get our nails done. Everybody wants to look pretty––everybody can relate to that."
Read more about the upcoming Queenies, Fades, and Blunts zine on the Lonely Londoners' blog
An illustration by Mojuicy (Mohammed Fayaz) from Queenies, Fades, and Blunts. Photos courtesy of the artists
A screenshot from a video Kareem Reid, one third of the Lonely Londoners, created for the exhibition
The Lonely Londoners: Rianna Parker, Pelin Keskin, and Kareem Reid. Courtesy of the Lonely Londoners Tumblr