Chosen Family: Kathleen White Spirits of Manhattan at Pioneer Works
Have you ever noticed how you always sense when someone is grazing even a single strand of your hair? When I think of hair, I think of antennas. It is one of the most effective ways of communicating we have…so sensitive.
So imagine my excitement when Rafael told me Kathleen had made sculptures and portraits out of hair! In the same way that the A Year of Firsts show at Martos represented her blood family, Spirits of Manhattan pays homage to the people she chose as her New York family…performers and artists in community.
The Spirits of Manhattan project was Initially inspired by the wigs that would be discarded on the street when their owners passed away from AIDS. Soon enough, Kathleen’s performer friends, like Lady Bunny, Linda Simpson, David Dalrymple, Billy Erb, and others started contributing wigs and hair for the project. Kathleen called them her “hair ancestors.”
When I see these sculptures, which had been stored for almost two decades and feel so fresh and alive, I am impressed by the sheer energy which the hair holds, and how upon walking in the room, I felt the presence of these playful creatures, hanging from the ceiling and walls and spilling out of a suitcase.
I felt so energized by this energy storage and radiation; I almost skipped through the room in my Pendleton Chief Joseph Robe (a gift from Paul), sample Adidas sweatshirt (a gift from Scooter), vintage Dior bag from the Margiela days, hat by Agnes de Garron, Levi’s Iconic 501s, and Nike camo sneakers. As my skin sometimes grazed the hanging sculptures ever so slightly, I felt a communication that made my hair stand on end.
Upstairs, a show by Nan Goldin displayed in ample evidence her admiration for Kathleen’s expressiveness. Her effortless photographs capture the spirit of a moment in a smile, a gesture, a pose, or the way the light sits on her friendly subject.
