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Honest Cuts / The New Gallery

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Olga Abeleva and Nadya Isabella, June 19th - August 1st 2020

Honest Cuts is a free hair salon collaboratively run by artists and aspiring hairdressers Olga Abeleva and Nadya Isabella.

The project started as a small community initiative in Vancouver, where the artists transformed their shared painting studio into an impromptu salon, setting it up differently for each customer. By offering their services for free, the artists re-imagine the relationship between customers and service providers, resisting the urge to predicate interpersonal relationships upon the exchange of capital. Instead, these interactions become centred on the act of giving and receiving care.

A painting of 3 people smiling looking towards each other. there is a red dotted line horizontally through the middle of the painting. At the bottom of the painting text reads: "Friendship Cut"

2 Paintings. On the left is a painting of a woman with pink hair. She has blue eyeshadow, green hooped earrings and a necklace that spells "honest". Her hair is going through her necklace. On the left is a painting of text that reads: "Gift Certificate, 0 Dollars Available".

Initially conceived as a joint residency in The New Gallery’s Main Space, Honest Cuts had to reimagine their project since COVID-19 has rendered it impossible for the artists to interact with customers in conventional ways. As legitimate owners of an imaginary business, Abeleva and Isabella have adapted to the new situation.

3 Paintings. The first painting is of a sign that reads: "Sorry we're Closed". The second painting is a portrait of a woman with brown hair. She has bangs and braided pig tails. The third painting is of the same woman but this time it is the back of her head. Her hair is shaved except for the braided pigtails which come out of patches of hair that are shaped like hearts.

3 paintings. The first painting is a portrait of a woman with black long hair, her bangs are cut straight across except for the sides which are cut a little lower. The text reads: "One step bangs". The second painting is a portrait of a woman with a brown bob haircut. The text reads: "Babely Bob". The third painting is a portrait of a man with a brown mullet. The text reads: "Subtle Mullet".

A drawing and a painting. The drawing is a line drawing of a woman walking her dog, they both have the same haircut. The text reads: "DIY, with the help of honest cuts". The painting is a painting of a note held up by green tape. The note reads: "Dear customers, unfortunately, we're closed. Please e-mail us if you want any advice on hairstyles. honestcutsandotherservices@gmail.com".

An essential part of Honest Cuts is their promotional campaign, devoted to studying the semiotics of advertising. Honest Cuts is interested in the absurdity of visual expression in capitalism, and parodies various advertising methodologies. Drawing from their background in painting, both artists promote the business through a series of painted signs. This provides an opportunity to rethink the expressive role of painting by extracting a utilitarian functionality to communicate a direct message to the public.

2 paintings. The first is a portrait of the front and back of a mans head. The man has a black braid of hair at his lower neck. The back of his head is shaved apart from the braid. The braid is coming out of a spot of hair shaped like a rat. The text reads: "Rat Tail". The second painting is a portrait of the front and back of a woman's head. She has bangs that are uneven, left side of her bangs are longer than the right.

With the motto “no skills and no money involved,” each haircut is an exercise in trust.

2 Paintings. The first painting is of a white picket fence, on the fence text is painted which reads: "I heart honest cuts". Below is different text that reads: "message from a superstar?". The second painting is a portrait of a woman with red hair, there are red flowers on vines framing her head. There is text that reads: "Gift Card, 0 dollars, redeem anytime".

A painting of a portrait of the front and back of a womans head. She has short blue spiky hair and her bangs are also spiked downwards. The text reads: "The whip".

Though with time, Abeleva and Isabella have gained enough technical skills to embody their barber alter egos with confidence, experimenting with limited resources to provide free creative solutions for the community, and satisfying dreams of luxury without a bill to foot. The project is sustained by the ongoing relationship between the salon and their clients; without the community’s support, this enterprise would cease to exist. Honest Cuts credits their customers with being the true inspiration behind the technical innovations, styles, and aesthetic of the business.

2 paintings. The first painting is a portrait of Rachel from the show Friends. It showcases her blonde haircut. There is text that reads: "The Rachel". The second painting is a portrait of Siouxsie Sioux from the band Siouxsie and the banshees. Her hair style is long, black and spiky. There is text that reads: "The siouxsie".

"Great company, hospitality and skill. 10/10 on Yelp." - Honest Review

A painting of an advertisement. There is a mag holding scissors standing in front of a mirror, below him are profiles of the same woman with 3 different hairstyles. The text reads: "New Custom Bowl, Made to fit just for you! comes in straight, zig-zag, and wavy". The man in the painting has a speech bubble which reads: "cutting my own hair has never been this easy!".

2 paintings. The first painting is of a person with long shaggy blonde hair. It is covering their face and their eyes are poking out of the hair. There is text that reads: "The Mop". The second painting is of the back of a persons head, the moon in the top right hand corner. Their hair is shiny, long and black, and spikes out on the sides. There is text that reads: "The Bat".

2 Paintings. The first painting is a portrait of a woman, there is a blue sky and clouds in the background. Her hair is sticking out on the top and sides in the shape of a star. The peaks of hair are poofy. The text at the bottom reads: " Cloud Cut". The second painting is a portrait of the front and back of a womans head. Her hair is very short, green and spiked all around her head. There is text that reads: "The Durian".

2 paintings. The first painting is a portrait of the singer Avril Lavigne. There is text that reads: "Honest cuts rocks!" and it is jokingly signed by Avril Lavigne. The second painting is a portrait of the singer Celine Dion. There is text that reads: "Honest Cuts, Je t'aime, l'encore!" it is jokingly signed by Celine Dion.

2 paintings. The first painting is seemingly made by a child. There are 3 stick figures smiling under the smiling sun. There is text that reads "honest cuts" the S's are written backwards. The second painting is a portrait of a person whose bangs are in front of their eyes. A hand is holding up a bubble level to seemingly measure the angle of the persons bangs.

2 Paintings. The first painting is a silhouette standing in the doorway of a house. The light is behind them and they cast a long red shadow on the floor in front of them. To the left of the doorway is a table with a pitcher of water on top of it. To the right of the doorway is silhouettes of spider plants hanging from the ceiling. The second painting is of a woman wearing red high heels kneeling over some long grass with red scissors in her hand. She is looking at an imprint in the mud below her. The imprint marks the letter K. There is text that reads: "A Cut Apart, Directed by Honest Cuts". The painting is mimicking a movie poster.

3 Paintings. The first painting is of a womans back, she is looking into a mirror and we can see her front in the mirror. She is using scissors to cut the back of her long hair. There is text that reads: "Honest cuts at home". The second painting is a portrait of a woman with her hair in a pony tail at the top of her head. Her hair protrudes from the top of her head in different directions. There is text that reads: "The carrot". The third painting is of the face of a woman looking down quizzically. There is text that reads: "decisions".

A painting of 2 women, one is leaning their head on the other. There is text that says "since 2016".

2 Paintings. The first painting has 2 panels. The first panel is a portrait of a womans face, she has very long spiky hair that starts at the roots as black and slowly fades to blonde at the ends. The second panel is of the womans hand making a rock-on gesture and the end of her hair. There is text that reads: "Stairway to heaven". The second painting is of a person laying down with a sun hat and sun glasses on. They are reading a book. Their hair cannot be seen under the hat. In the bottom right corner there is a cut out that shows the sun hat being filled with a hair mask. There is text that says: "Undercover Spa Hat, Elastic to Secure Hair, Lined with Reusable plastic, Treat your hair while you're out and about!"

) ) ) ) ) ) ) ( ) Combing punctuates parenthetical trimmings strands of hair are cut dashes and pieces of texts – after ASCII drawings online ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) I struggle to find language at the barber I perform the customer getting a variation on a buzz I wonder how others talk about hair to their cutter The razor whirs I gently roll my head down Reading my lap The blades graze my neck grit around my ears whisper and ask about a girl who kisses my nape as itchy as the clipper I think about my posture wet hair Mist settles on the shop gown like dew Small talk passes [snip] ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ My hair grew long I remember On a bridge I said I stopped shampooing Hair between cuts between shampoos measures time between Friends cut hair catch-up I asked Nadya to give me a haircut Our third one together We agreed on a Tuesday In the garden A day off for both of us I recall our first It left me an impression A mess of bits of hair, dust and debris from my studio floor mixed on the dustpan My hair, materials and ecology dirt glittered through Perhaps the haircutter off work paints Brushes are assembled from cut hair The haircutter approaches a shape The painter approaches a head Gestures–cuts shed mass, render volume mark time a texture make edges split ends spilt 0r perhaps cuts the lawn A convivial cut We talk through my indecision and end up finding the words long, bangs in the yard A mirror reflects the afternoon The rake combs my cut hair with the grass clippings It collects a time mass

A photo of the front left window of The New Gallery's storefront, in the window are all of the paintings from the "Honest Cuts" project hung in a collage.

A photo of The New Gallery's storefront, in the windows all of the paintings from the "Honest Cuts" Projects are hung in the form of a collage.

This exhibition was generously funded by the Rozsa Foundation and the Calgary Foundation.