Hair + Nails

Opening November 18th, 7-10pm

CHIMERA: New paintings by EMMA BEATREZ, CHRISTINA BALLANTYNE, RACHEL COLLIER and JULIA GARCIA

OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, November 18, 2023, 7:00-10:00pm
OPEN GALLERY HOURS: walk-ins welcome: Thursdays/Fridays/Saturdays/Sundays 1:00-5:00 starting November 19. Also, appointments can be scheduled 7 days/week via hairandnailsart@gmail.com.

HAIR + NAILS is thrilled to present a winter show of new paintings by four exceptional artists: Emma Beatrez, Julia Garcia, and Rachel Collier based in Minneapolis and Los Angeles-based artist Christina Ballantyne. Each with a distinct take on the contemporary moment. Each in a moment of palpable growth and command of their materials and voices. The electric spark of four distinct expressions in close proximity. Four artists that are watching each other closely.

Previous HAIR+NAILS shows by these artists include: Christina Ballantyne’s “Wrestling with Desire” (2023) and work in the group show “Painting Show” (2022); Emma Beatrez’s “TECHNOLUST 3000” and work in the group shows “Painting Show” (2022) and “The Human Scale” at Rochester Art Center (2021); Rachel Collier’s “Field Moves” (2022) and work in group shows “Painting Show” (2022), “The Human Scale” at Rochester Art Center (2021), “RIGHT NOW” (2021), “FUTURE FUTURE” (2020), and the three-person show “Relief—Three Fresh Approaches to Building Surface” (2018). Julia Garcia has forthcoming HAIR+NAILS showings at NADA Miami 2023 and a solo show in 2025.

CHRISTINA BALLANTYNE:
My recent paintings are an exploration into psychological portraiture. These works begin with the outline of a face or body that is cut, filled and stitched onto the canvas to create a dimensional almost sculptural effect. Once the surface is prepared, I begin to paint, often without a particular concept in mind, but slowly hone in on a feeling or specific sensation. The paintings become a space to contain and hold the various turbulent psychological forces that often seem to influence our day to day lives. These forces push and pull often almost bulging out of our inner life forcing their way into our outside world.

Christina Ballantyne is a painter and sculptor teaching and living in Los Angeles, CA. She received her MFA in painting and drawing from the School at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2021 where she was recipient of the Helen Frankenthaler Award. She has exhibited her work in Minneapolis MN, Los Angeles CA, Chicago IL, Milwaukee WI, and Austin TX.

www.christinaballantyne.com
Instagram: @xtinaballantyne2.0

EMMA BEATREZ:
This work is rooted in a dynamic of desire to over consume while being force fed. Images flicker between personal and public open source, taking shape in a constant state of “what happens when the next five links are removed?” Like telephone, everything comes full circle in the end, altered through the degradation of transference.
I’m interested in cropping, digging, blurring, redaction, cult fantasy, assimilation, voyeurism, innocence, recontextualization, memory/memory purgatory, framing, and montage.

Emma Beatrez is an interdisciplinary artist from Minnesota. They graduated from Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2020 with a MFA in Interdisciplinary Studio Art. Beatrez received their BFA with an emphasis in painting at North Dakota State University in 2018. Beatrez is the co-founder/curator at Night Club gallery in St. Paul alongside artist Lee Noble.

www.emmabeatrez.com
Instagram: @emma.beatrez

RACHEL COLLIER:
I render my work in radiant color, transcribing ecstatic realms that populate our shared consciousness. Repeated abstract forms anchor familiar psychic landscapes to our physical world, stirring the spirit in preparation for advancement or departure. While referencing the languages of maps and topography, my language deconstructs from the grid to imagine transcendent space.

Rachel Collier has her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and recent solo shows include HAIR+NAILS Gallery (Minneapolis, MN), the Nemeth Art Center (Park Rapids, MN), Saint Kate’s Arts Hotel (Milwaukee, WI). Recent group shows and publications include: Artsy FOUNDATIONS Fair (artsy.net), NADA Miami 2022 (Miami, FL), Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation (Ojai,CA), New American Paintings. Residencies: The Wassaic Project, Wassaic NY (2021, 2022); Anderson Center Jerome Emerging Artist Residency and Fellowship, Red Wing MN (2022); Nido invitational residency and exhibition, Monte Castello di Vibio, Umbria, Italy (2022); and Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village CO (2022).

www.rachelcollier.com
Instagram: @rachelcolliermwa

JULIA GARCIA:
The relation to material flow, time, and permeability, is underpinned by the dominance of water’s role in my process. From the highly constructed and controlled environment of Disney to the fabricated ideas of Americana permeating culture and media, in this selection of works, the paintings presented begin to ask questions about what lies at the heart of images meant to propagate fantasy.
Born in Pompano Beach, FL, Cuban American artist Julia Garcia (b. 1992) uses a collage-like application of acrylic and ink into wet raw canvas while painting. Julia received her BFA from School of Visual Art in 2014 and her MFA in 2016 from the Hoffberger School of Painting at Maryland Institute College of Art.