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Written by Michael Muckian, Contributing writer
Apr 7, 2011
Anthony Santini, of Hybrid Salon, created this hairstyle for “Hair Affair 2009.” It represented environmental degradation. – Photo: Courtesy
Some of Madison’s most original artists will stand head and shoulders above the crowd at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art on April 28.
“Hair Affair 2011: The Art of Hair,” the second biennual fundraiser, will challenge the city’s most competitive and creative stylists to create “fantasy and fairytale” coiffures to benefit MMoCA, which is located in the Overture Center for the Arts.
The first “Hair Affair” took place in 2009 and proved to be MMoCA’s most successful fundraiser, according to visual artist Katie Dowling Marcus, who is co-chair of the event along with textile artist Theodora Zehner. Both women serve on the MMoCA board of trustees and are museum docents.
“The idea of a gala showcasing fantastical hair designs came about as a way to draw people to a museum event that was fun, creative, theatrical and unique,” says Dowling Marcus. “The goal of MMoCA fundraisers is not only to raise money, but expose the museum to a wider audience.”
This year, 20 models will strut Overture’s glass staircase “catwalk,” boasting phantasmagorical designs created by 18 Madison-area salons. An estimated audience of 400, up from 300 in 2009, will pay $50-$100 to support the museum’s exhibits while admiring the dos.
“Hair design is something that is universally used as an indicator of personal style and identity,” says Tony Santini, who has owned Hybrid Salon for four years and is participating in his second “Hair Affair” competition. “People use hair to rebel, they use it to fit in, we can identify a social group by the nature of the cut, and it is a major form of artistic expression.”
A Redken NYC educator and platform artist for the past eight years, Santini has worked as a stylist since 1998. Participating in “Hair Affair” allows his team of five stylists to exercise what may be their ultimate opportunity for creativity.
“The creative process involved in building a piece for this event is valuable in so many ways,” Santini says. “It allows us as a group to create a concept and determine how to physically achieve it. The team-building and working towards a combined vision is huge, given that most of us work one-on-one with the guests in our chairs.”
Participating in the show also has benefits back in the salon, according to participant Mitchel Levey, a stylist at the Ultimate Spa Salon. By stepping outside of their comfort zone, stylists can examine different options in hair design that make new and often bolder statements about both the artist and the individual, says Levey, who has been a stylist for a dozen years.
“I definitely think of my profession as an art, and in art there are forms of expression that are mild to wild,” says Levey, a Waupun native and second-time “Hair Affair” participant. “I’m always looking for more, pushing the boundaries beyond the latest and greatest to see what’s coming next.”
In 2009 Levey created a representation of the Capitol dome, with thin braids of hair forming the dome’s ribs and a circular colonnade set atop a model dressed as Miss Forward, the state’s symbol. Santini executed an enormous globe of green and blue that towered almost three feet above the head of a model dressed in black trash bags to represent environmental degradation.
With a 2011 “fantasy and fairytales” theme, it’s anyone’s guess what this year’s designs will look like. But both Santini and Levey say they are ready.
“I think the designer sets the standard for what is outrageous,” Levey says. “I say bring it on!”
“Hair Affair 2011: The Art of Hair” is at MMoCA in Madison’s Overture Center for the Arts 7-10 p.m. on April 28. Call 608-257-0158, ext. 221, or visit www.mmoca.org.
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