The Hairdresser (Le coiffeur) 1948

Curator: Pierre Alechinsky’s 1948 drawing, “The Hairdresser,” executed in ink on paper, sits before us. It is currently held here at the Tate Britain. Editor: The immediate impact is stark simplicity. It feels ancient, primal. Is it meant to represent an idol? Or maybe a kind of deconstructed, almost brutalized human form? Curator: It is certainly intriguing in its abstraction. Alechinsky created this during a time of immense societal shift and recovery after the Second World War. One can see that the artwork’s exploration of the fragmented self echoes postwar existentialism. The Art Informel movement, in which Alechinsky played a role, sought new forms of expression to capture the uncertainty of that era. Editor: Indeed, the figure is adorned with what appears to be a crown of sorts. Perhaps the small dangling rectangles from it can be viewed as talismans or icons representing beauty and status that have been somewhat displaced or become distorted, almost satirical in tone, but maybe they're simply hairpins. Curator: That reading opens some compelling points about representation. In Alechinsky's figuration, do you see also the role and perception of women in the post-war landscape? How rigid or subverted? His works from that period also intersect with considerations around performance of identity in general, the expectation to conform to some standard of being that is both imposed and internally self-monitored. Editor: Absolutely. Consider, too, the stylized, vessel-like form supporting the figure; one might interpret it as representing social expectations, an expectation of presentation perhaps, even an element of display, supporting the upper element which strives for grace, adornment. Curator: So the ‘Hairdresser’ serves as both critique and reflection. I like your points. Editor: Mine as well. As we unravel its symbolism, we perhaps see in its raw, unadorned lines something deeply reflective of societal pressures on identity. Curator: A testament to the ability of abstraction to communicate volumes! Editor: Exactly, and with lasting potency.