The curly hair movement and market is growing as more people learn to style and celebrate their natural hair.
This time, we hear from a salon in Connecticut that specializes in natural curls. Luvena Leslie opened Curly Hair Salon in 2011. “So many people have had bad experiences before coming to us,” Leslie says.
Viola Clune, a Yale student and New Journal editor, recently wrote an article about salons like Leslie’s and the work they are doing to unravel “hair trauma” in an article titled “The Twisting of Movement.” I wrote an article about it. She also joins the conversation.
Clune says that Curly Hair Salon is “contradiction, intervention, reminiscence, and stagnation all at the same time. New Haven’s growing salon industry believes that there is something complementary to these contradictions, something inherent in them. This suggests that…” he wrote.
Additionally, the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford has a new exhibit on the optics and politics of hair. Curators will join us to discuss “Styling Identity: The Tangled History of Hair,” on display until August 11th. We also hear from one of the archivists who contributed to the exhibition and created the accompanying zine.
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Roselle (American, born 1966), a3 blackface #70, 2004. Acrylic paint on paper. Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum, Hartford, CT. African American Art Purchase Fund, 2004.13.2
Provided by/Wadsworth
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Ashante Kindle, American, born 1990, Dark and Lovely (Nocturnal Grace), 2023, Hair Styling Strips, Satin Bonnet, Hair Barrettes, Obsidian, Afro Picks, Acrylic on Wood Panel, Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 2024.5.1
Provided by/Wadsworth
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William Holman Hunt (British, 1827-1910), The Lady of Shalott, c. 1886-1905. Oil painting on canvas. Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum, Hartford, CT. Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1961.470
Provided by/Wadsworth
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Pepon Osorio (American, born 1955, Puerto Rico), En la barbería no se Ilora (No crying in the barbershop), 1994. mixed media. Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum, Hartford, CT. Purchased through a gift from Southern New England Telephone and the Alexander A. Goldfarb Contemporary Art Acquisition Fund, celebrating the vitality of the Puerto Rican community in Connecticut, 1994.37.1
Provided by/Wadsworth
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Author unknown, Chantilly Porcelain Factory, Louis XV, c. 1775. Soft paste porcelain. Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum, Hartford, CT. Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.1509
Provided by/Wadsworth
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Hair flower spray. American, c. 1860. Ribbon and human hair. Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum, Hartford, CT. Gift from Mr. and Mrs. James Hillhouse, 1923.306
Provided by/Wadsworth
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John Sloan (American, 1871–1951), Hairdresser’s Window, 1907. Oil painting on canvas. Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum, Hartford, CT. Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1947.240
Provided by/Wadsworth
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Rachel Portesi, American, born 1971, The Dauntless Bureau, 2023, multimedia sculptural installation, purchased through the Mary Dowling Art Purchase Fund, March 1, 2024 – May 2024. .17–.18
Provided by / Wadsworth
guest:
Luvena Leslie: Owner of Curly Hair Salon in New Haven Viola Clune: Editor of the New Journal and author of the article “Kinks in Movement” Jama Horchin: “Styling Identity: Tangled Hair” at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum Chief Curator of Art Chloe Collins: Library Assistant and Archivist, Wadsworth Athenaeum Art Museum
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