SEAGULL SALON NYC Beauty & Culture Blog

Happy 2017 from Seagull Salon!

Happy 2017! We should all congratulate ourselves for making it through that endurance test of a year 2016. Midnight could not have gotten here fast enough on Saturday evening. But we shouldn't be too down on 2016---after all, we did get some nice new press to end the year on, facing 2017 with a fresher, more determined attitude. 

On the heels of the nightmarish election came our feature in New York Times T Magazine that we were very proud of and thankful for. It couldn't have come at a better time! It's all things Seagull: beautiful and political. And the description of the salon fits us to a T: "Seagull feels decidedly cozy. Elephant Pink, the Benjamin Moore color that coats the walls, helped create a sense of consistency when the salon moved from its storefront spot on West 10th to its current second-story location on West 4th. Funky, sharp black built-ins designed by the architect Ben Warwas, Fateman’s childhood friend, break up the blush, along with paintings by artists like Sam McKinniss and Kathe Burkhardt."

 

 

In December, our color expert Jeanise was featured in the newest Walt Cessna zine Vaczine #3. Jeanise's gift of color inspires all and definitely makes Seagull more special with her warm and fun personality. 

 

And our marvelous assistant Maggie's band Yucky Duster was featured in the Guardian with their newest track "Elementary School Dropout".

Yucky Duster is a really fun Brooklyn punk band with infectious tunes I've sung many a time to myself on my way to work in the morning. Definitely check them out!

We hope your 2017 is starting off right. 2016 was a test, but it's over now. We made it. Now let's get our hair done!

xo
craig

Topher Gross in Time Out New York's The State of Queer Issue!

 

The latest issue of Time Out New York features the coolest and hottest queers around town, and it wouldn't be complete without Seagull's very own haircutting wizard and all-around sweetheart Topher Gross!

It's refreshing to read an issue devoted to queerness in such a widely-read NYC publication, clarifying the difference between "gay" and "queer". "To me, being queer is a state of consciousness rather than an identity," quotes the article. Very true words. It's a very Seagull-(and West Village-) appropriate issue to have on our coffee table: fabulously gay and inherently political. 

Grab a copy before it's too late---and be sure to book your next amazing haircut with Topher!

Topher Gross is a freelance hairstylist with 10 years of experience in the beauty industry. He specializes in precision-based scissor and razor techniques which are designed to create beautiful, versatile, wearable hair for clients. He is known for cutting and styling curly/textured hair, short-edgy looks and tailored, masculine/barber-styles.

Previously a Top Stylist at Arrojo Studio, Topher cut thousands of clients, was an in-salon educator, a part of the show and seminar team for 9 years (IBS, ABS, Premiere) and worked on editorial and video shoots.

He has traveled to cut and style hair for clients all over the U.S., London and Berlin. Topher has been featured in Time Out NY, about.com, intothegloss.com, on various fashion blogs, DapperQ, GO magazine, and behindthechair.com. He was the lead hairstylist for the Brooklyn Girls Calendar series.

A native New Yorker, Topher is always inspired by the unique styles and fashions on the city streets. He believes that hair can be opportunity to express creativity, show a window into someone’s soul and bring out the inner beauty of each client.

Topher travels coast-to-coast for clients from Brooklyn to the Bay Area (Oakland, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz).

Seagull Salon is lucky to have Topher on staff as part of our team and plus he's SUPER fun to be around to boot. 

xo
craig

Small Works for Big Change 2016 - The Sylvia Rivera Law Project

This year Seagull Hair Salon was proud to sponsor the annual art auction at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project alongside Cooper Union, Bitch Media and many more. The auction, Small Works for Big Change, is always very exciting because it is for a really good cause: 

Fighting Discrimination against Gender Non-Conforming People: Focusing on People of Color and Poor People

In case you are not familiar, below is a description of what  SLRP works to do and you can find more info here: THE SYLIVA RIVERA LAW PROJECT.

 "The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine their gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence. SRLP is a collective organization founded on the understanding that gender self-determination is inextricably intertwined with racial, social and economic justice. Therefore, we seek to increase the political voice and visibility of low-income people and people of color who are transgender, intersex, or gender non-conforming. SRLP works to improve access to respectful and affirming social, health, and legal services for our communities. We believe that in order to create meaningful political participation and leadership, we must have access to basic means of survival and safety from violence."

Like every year, a bunch of super rad artists donated small pieces, including works from Leidy Churchman, Nancy Brooks Brody, and A.K. Burns. One of the coolest things about this particular auction is that it does not exist online, which means if you want to purchase a piece of art you actually have to be there IRL. By doing away with online bidding and limiting the geographical scope of people who can bid, this auction allows for people to bid on work by artists that otherwise would be monetarily out of reach. And that's pretty cool! I personally managed to nab a small painting by Andrea Geyer, who I wrote about earlier this year due to her huge contribution to the opening of the new Whitney Museum, "America is Hard to See". 

Andrea is a longtime Seagull VIP and I'm really stoked that I get to add her piece "Scratching the Surface From Below" to my mini art collection.

xoxox Shaun SureThing for Seagull Hair Salon, West Village, New York City

 

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"Monica" Takes Seagull

I love watching shows that take place in NYC, especially ones that take place in Seagull's home of the West Village, which is the setting of Doron Max Hagay's web series "Monica". It's a familiar setting that gives a familiar feel to a familiar story. Or so you think...

Everyone knows the story of Monica Lewinksy, but what about after the dust cleared? How does one go on with their life after all that? Where does one go? 

NYC, of course. 

Monica - Chapter One from Doron Max Hagay on Vimeo.

Inspired by the New York Magazine article "Monica Takes Manhattan" and the HBO special "Monica in Black and White", "Monica" tells the story of post-scandal Monica (Lily Morotta) arriving in the West Village to pick up the pieces and put herself back out there. In six episodes, we see Monica meet new people, go to downtown comedy clubs, pick swatches for her new bag line, and pitch a documentary idea to HBO. She even has some not-so-nice encounters as she strolls the city. 

"Monica" is sweetly funny and cringe-inducing at times, though it's never mean-spirited, which is part of why it's so refreshing and successful. It also doesn't hurt that the series features amazing performances from some of downtown NYC's best actor-performers, including Seagull VIP Cole Escola---and other personal favorites Jacqueline Novak, Erin Markey, Kate Berlant, and John Early. 

Take a break from this crazy primary season and revisit some simpler times with "Monica". You'll be glad you did. 

xo
craig-hunter

 

New Salon, New Year, New Art

Hello loves,

Welcome to 2016! The whole Seagull staff is ecstatically grateful to start the new year fresh in a new salon---a much, much bigger space to accommodate more clients/stylists than we ever imagined. We also needed space to hang more art! If you recall, Dead Seagull (our old location's unofficial name) could only hold one painting at a time, which was pretty limiting since there was so much more we wanted to hang. 

We knew when we opened the new Seagull that we needed a very bold piece to greet our clients right when they walked in the door.  What better choice than one of Kathe Burkhart's (in)famous Liz Taylor paintings: 

Shaun took this photo of me at the front desk on our first day open for business, and as you can see, I'm ecstatic and honored to work along side a Burkhart piece:

Burkhart's work is intimidating and alluring. While this piece reads "Fuck You" if you read between the lines, it's saying "Get on my level."

Another score is this print by Alice O'Malley photograph that hangs out near our lovely new product shelf:

It's very Seagull meets Friday the 13th VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. I love it so much. 

We also got this A.L. Steiner print that is the perfect summation of the Seagull aesthetic: very queer and New York with a knowing wink to the West Coast.

Seagull thrives off the art and the energy of downtown NYC, so these newest additions to our collection make us incredibly happy. Definitely looking forward to future acquisitions from our favorite NYC artists.

We hope you have had a chance to come see new Seagull, and, if not, please come see us soon!

xo
craig hunter

Congratulations to Seagull VIP Nicole Eisenman!

There are some amazingly talented and deserving recipients of the 2015 MacArthur Grant, but the one Seagull is most proud of is one our favorite clients, artist Nicole Eisenman!

We only have one word for Nicole: CONGRATULATIONS!

This award is rightfully earned by her. Her inventiveness and keen eye are pushing the boundaries of figurative painting. Seagull is honored to call her a VIP client and a friend. 

We can't wait to see what she does next!

-SEAGULL

SEAGULL VIP CLIENT OF THE WEEK: Natalie Elizabeth Weiss of BABY DJ SCHOOL

We are SUPER jazzed on our Seagull VIP client of the week: composer, electronic music diva and stylish stone cold fox Natalie Elizabeth Weiss, the mastermind behind Baby DJ School.

 As a longtime wildcard in Brooklyn's electronic music scene performing as Unicornicopia and in various collaborations, Weiss has been on our cultural radar for years; old school Seagull readers may remember her first appearance on this blog all the way back in 2010 for her Camp Wanatach residency at Ramiken Crucible. Since then, somewhere between staging a sold-out musical at La Mama, farming with Greek nuns, scoring a fellowship with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and continuing to compose, DJ and perform under various guises, she came up with the THE business idea of the century: teaching babies and toddlers aged 3 months to 3 years how to DJ using Traktor Pro and a midi trigger.

When she launched Baby DJ school last summer, the internet promptly went buck-wild, and for good reason. The concept itself is high grade media catnip: equal parts WTF, truly original, and eerily right on time, perfect for our technology-mediated, digital native-spawning culture—and coinciding neatly with EDM’s meteoric mainstream takeover.

Part of the genius in the idea lies in the fact that, at first, it does sound a little outrageous to teach babies to DJ— even though it's actually not too different from more traditional music lessons for kids. Anyone who's ever seen a toddler go off on an iPad can attest that kids are drawn to techy toys, and Weiss points out that babies as young as three months can recognize songs, that the 3 month to three years age range is a golden period of motor skill, memory and language absorption. No wonder every DJ in town was so heated on Twitter when they first heard the news. 

The story broke accompanied by memorable, can-this-be-real press shots depicting Weiss leaning beatifically over an M-Audio trigger pad and a laptop, chilling with a fedora-clad baby against sun-dappled Seurat parkscape. 

After the lol-worthy wave of miffed DJs and handwringing on the social feeds, Baby DJ School quickly leveled up from viral clickbait to the Wall Street Journal and NYMag Approval Matrix to global news sensation.

 Now that Baby DJ School classes are selling out, Weiss is extending the brand by producing an original Baby DJ School children's album, featuring songs about the history of techno music and elements of disco. Perfect for electronic music lovers who are also parents of babies! We can't wait to hear it, and we might not have to wait too long—when Weiss dropped in to get this deconstructed mid-length cut from Shaun, she was on her way to a major meeting, and she's determined to win a Grammy for best children's record. She's squeezing all this in in addition to collaborating on a sound piece with Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and dropping vocals on the new Eaters record.

We are loving what Shaun did with Natalie Elizabeth Weiss's iconic blunt dark bangs and long hair: a nod to Shaun Surething signature nowhere length with killer mod statement bangs and the perfect hint of texture. 

Here's to Natalie Weiss holding it down while her DJ school blows up! Here at Seagull we have endless love for women on the midi controller, female entrepreneurship, tech education, electronic music and of course BABIES. Props to our VIP Client of the week for bringing these things together!

XO,

Contributing Editor Molly 

PS- If you want to know more, of course there's a short VICE doc about Baby DJ School. It's good- check it out.

Andra Ursuta, Carol Bove, Ramiken Crucible and the High Line.

Over the last few summers since the opening of the first section of the High Line Park we've seen it go from a local, New York pseudo park/chill space with a few well appointed flower patches to a totally global architectural destination spot. I, myself am not one of the New Yorkers who hates the High Line for it's weekend crowds and bustling tourists, in fact, I still find it quite serene on a Tuesday afternoon before the after work commuters-on-foot show up. Apart from all that AND that it's The Best Kept Secret as a Fast Commute according to the NYTIMES,  there's kind of a lot going on with public art up there these days. 

Andra Ursuta who is on a crazy fucking roll right now. She's showing in the 55th Venice Biennale as we type, plus landed an amazing spread in Interview Magazine. On the High Line, Ursuta has an installation on the third, unopened section called "Nose Job" a giant sculpture of a stationary wheel barrow seemingly ready to be dump a scupted nose (we hear though the grapevine it's based on her husban Mike's actual nose) into some gravel. 

This, coming after a great year for her in 2012. Her solo show at Ramiken Crucible (If Seagull has a sister art gallery because we were one, it would for sure be Ramiken Crucible) "Magical Terroism" was hailed as one of the top ten best things to happen, art wise, in the world by NYTimes critic Jerry Staltz. Known for her dark humor and sometimes bleak subject matter, the piece is a great addition to the High Line. 

And speaking of Ramiken Crucible they just keep going up, up, up. Clearly Mike Ursuta and Blaize Lehane are about the hottest ticket in town as far as art curatorial stuffs is concerned not to mention the sexiest gallerists in Manhattan (Blaize has hooded blue eyes that make me actually loose time whenever we make contact. That's him down there on the right) what with the rising fame of Seagull Sweetheart and painter Nolan Hendrickson whose Ramiken show got raves from the NYTimes. Hendrickson aslo just finished up a crazy performance piece in Los Angeles KTCHN, a collaboration with dance glower Ryan Heffington. 

Back to the High Line Seagull V.I.P. and one of Shaun's personal muses, Swiss born American artist Carol Bove (who was in LAST year's 54th Bienniele) has a piece up there as well, Caterpillar. We are told appointments for High Line's Art Walk to view up it up close are booked out through the end of summer, so we are left to peer through chain linked fences to catch a glimpse.

BUT all hope is not lost. Bove basically rules the school of the entire fourth floor of MOMA with her arrangement of seven sculptures entitled The Equinox from basically now through January 12th 2014. 

 

This seems like a place to hang out for a while in case we get another heat wave this summer. It's cool and white and not so fucking gloomy and muggy. See you there girl. 

xo Shaun SureThing for Seagull Salon

Our Boy Nolan Hendrickson: Art Season's Triple Threat 2012

Over the years, many of you have gazed into the Seagull mirrors with Nolan Hendrickson's paintings drawing your attention, or staring back at you to invoke a kind of spirited gender, sex and dark caberet-ish invitiation into the artist's world. Most of you will recognize this painting that currently adorns our archway into another dimension:

This year (December 1—February 12), Nolan will be presenting new works from the series "Sportswear" as part of a group show at Zach Feuer entitled "Come in, We're Open," opening reception December 1st, at 6pm. This group show will include equally confrontational landscape and portraiture paintings by Brooklyn based artist Eddie Martinez as well as the jewel-hued compositions of Los Angeles artist J.P. Munro. 

In addition to this group show, Nolan will be part of the Zach Feuer booth at NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance) in Miami Beach December 6-9 at the Deauville Beach Resort at Collins and 67th street. 

Here is a sneak peak at an unfinished work that MAY or MAY NOT BE presented at NADA.

 

AND, if that were not enough, Nolan will be represented in some way or another as his New York City Gallerist Ramiken Crucible will be hosting a booth at Art Basel this year to showcase Romanian born sculptor Andra Ursuta from December 6-9th.

For those of you who won't make it for a day or two, let us reminisce (if you've been coming to Seagull long enough) on this beautiful abstract landscape explosion/hot air balloon landing/taking off that once donned the walls of Seagull, and now calls my apartment home:

Very Best and Best Wishes to Nolan with all Seagull's love.

Shaun SureThing for Seagull Boutique hair Salon West Village NYC

Here is the announcement from Zach Feurer. 

Nolan Hendrickson, Eddie Martinez, JP Munro

Exhibition dates: December 1, 2012 - January 12, 2013

Reception for the Artists: Saturday, December 1st, 6-8 PM

 

  

 

For the gallery's post Sandy re-opening, Zach Feuer Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of works by Nolan Hendrickson, Eddie Martinez and JP Munro.  

 

Nolan Hendrickson will present a series of new paintings entitled Sportswear.  In each vibrantly colored 5' x 6' painting, groups of figures intertwine with an array of objects from bicycles to decorative urns to flowers. The objects repeat between canvases, morphing in size and presentation and disappearing and reappearing between the figures moving within the works. Hendrickson (b. 1976) lives and works in New York City and is represented by Ramiken Crucible. 

 

Eddie Martinez's paintings vacillate between references of art history and creating a new visual language through spraying, scratching, scraping and building up oil and enamel paint.  Portraits with dripping eyes stare out at the viewer while abstracted landscapes and figures require closer examination to identify references of figuration. In each work, line and brushwork are prominent elements, highlighting the artist's gesture. Martinez (b.1977) lives and works in Brooklyn.

 

JP Munro's work reinterprets myths and legends, presenting the viewer with references to epic stories and historical events in decadent scenes.  Rich color palettes highlight layered scenes of objects and Herculean-type figures that draw from art history and historical subjects.  The paintings present the viewer with a new reading of history painting in which real and fictional histories are merged into jewel-hued compositions.  Munro (b. 1975) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA and is represented by International Art Objects. 

 

Seagull VIP Laura Parnes at MoMA!

We've written about Laura Parnes before, as she's one of our faves, and her new video piece County Down involves BOTH of Seagull's owners. Shaun is featured as a surly—and extremely fashionable—grocery store associate; and I worked on the soundtrack. It will screen at MoMA (or, as my grandma would say, "the Modern") on December 17th at 7PM. We are thrilled. Here's the link! xo Johanna