Few subjects can evoke the entwinement of the corporeal, personal, and political so succinctly as that of hair. Throughout history, hair has been charged with significance and is resonant with meaning, transmitting ideas about gender, mythology, status and power, the body, psychology, feminism, and notions of beauty. At once radiant and repellent, and often richly symbolic, it has always assumed a particular importance in relation to the self, history, and society.

Edited by Melissa Keys, Hair Pieces explores the complex significance of hair in contemporary culture through a selection of recent Australian and international works of art. Encompassing a wide range of practices including drawing, painting, performance, photography, installation, text, and more, this collection of works reveals interwoven dialogues tracing identity, spirituality, agency, and resistance. Published by Perimeter Editions, this book – and the 2024 exhibition that preceded it at Heide Museum of Modern Art – examines the myriad ways in which artists utilise hair to investigate and conjure generative and beguiling possibilities encompassing growth, empowerment and transformation.

Hair Pieces features artworks by Marina Abramović, Francis Alÿs, Janine Antoni, Georgia Banks, Polly Borland, Sonia Boyce, Christina May Carey, Sadie Chandler, Debris Facility Pty Ltd, Edith Dekyndt, Karla Dickens, Jim Dine, Peter Ellis, Tarryn Gill, Mona Hatoum, Lou Hubbard, Jiang Jian, Nusra Latif Qureshi, John Meade, Ana Mendieta, Hayley Millar Baker, SJ Norman, J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, Patricia Piccinini, Rosslynd Piggott, Wes Placek, C.J. Pyle, Chunxiao Qu, Julie Rrap, Shih Yung-Chun, Charlie Sofo, Christian Thompson, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Louise Weaver, William Wegman, Helen Wright, Ulay, Ai Yamaguchi, and Zhang Chun Hong.