The salon is the second Jacob has designed for DKUK owner Daniel Kelly, an artist and hairdresser, who previously ran the salon in an arcade unit off Peckham's Rye Lane. To increase footfall he's moved out onto Queens Road, a thoroughfare that links Camberwell School of Arts and the art department of Goldsmiths university. “The new position on Queens Road will offer more chance encounters for the general public to engage with contemporary art,” says Kelly.
The cost of each style is based on the time spent, rather than gender, and is used to fund the exhibition programme. “The new design combines cultural space with social enterprise to support new approaches to how art and life can be brought together productively, making a new type of gallery space and new ways of showing art,“ says Jacob, who has curated the exhibition ‘Museum Show’ exploring methods of display this month.
A yellow steel-framed structure divides the space in two and is used to display hair products and artists books alike. Translucent yellow screens add brightness to the white-wall space and a cabinet that can become reflective with the flick of a switch reveals customers transformation after their haircut. Exhibition space extends to the basement, intended to host performances and double as a hairdressing academy where Kelly can train up other artists seeking a way to support their practice.