VBKÖ – Vereinigung bildender Künstlerinnen Österreichs

GROWING

November 18th – December 20th, 2023
Opening hours: Fri – Sat: 2 pm – 6 pm
Artists: Mariama Diallo, Erisa Mirkazemi, Abiona Esther Ojo, Manuela Picallo Gil and Barbara Stöhr

Opening: Fri, November 17th, 6 pm
Midissage: Thu, November 30th, 7 pm with salon_tongue
Workshop
for teenagers: Please get in touch with us if you are interested in registering a group: contact@manuelapicallogil.com 
Closing: Wed, December 20th, 6 pm

 

Growing presents the positions of five artists, Mariama Diallo, Erisa Mirkazemi, Abiona Esther Ojo, Manuela Picallo Gil and Barbara Stöhr, resulting from research on the mechanisms that construct a sense of self-recognition and identity through hair and its symbolism.
The form and meaning of hair are examined in their relationship with the body, sexuality, power, and media in the work of five positions that confirm that man is a being that needs symbols to give meaning and order to his life. GROWING is an artistic exploration of hair as a symbol of power but also of resistance and freedom.
The contradictory nature of the multifaceted meaning of hair is shown and will also be discussed in the exhibition. To what extent is the subject of hair connected with power, health, gender, class, religion, representation, resistance and identity in the history of humanity? And how can patterns and symbols acquire new content?
The artistic interpretations range from research to a call to action, re-discussing and re-interpreting symbols. The motivation is to live in a society where symbolic images raise their voices, genital hair is combed, and art motivates social growth. 

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*salon_tongue is a queer-feminist collective that regularly organizes open meetings, exhibitions and actions to create an open space for artists and cultural workers from the queer-feminist context and to be a place for networking and discussion. Hot topics such as classism, distribution of space, body norms, body boundaries, gender and social codifications are addressed by the collective dealt with. The tongue as a body part exists independently of all socio-cultural and physical characteristics and stands for speaking to each other. 
IG: @salon_tongue

photo credits: © Sarah Tasha Hauber for the opening and © Daniel Hill for exhibition shots

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