Faisal Abdu’Allah

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courtesy Faisal Abdu’Allah

Three tapestries in "The Duppy Conqueror" series.

Faisal Abdu’Allah, "The Duppy Conqueror" (triptych), 2017.

Faisal Abdu’Allah is professor of printmaking at UW-Madison, an artist and a barber. And yes, that figures into his practice, as the multi-disciplinary artist sometimes combines his roles as artist and barber, cutting hair and using the clippings as raw material to create a portrait of the sitter. In the exhibit “DARK MATTER,” which draws from his past and current work, Abdu’Allah explores and questions the ways we are represented in the world, in light of power systems, privilege, exclusion and the voyeuristic gaze. Another Live Salon talk, with Alan Chancellor, takes place at 2 p.m. on April 1. Don't miss this one before it closes on April 2. MMoCA's current hours are noon-6 p.m., Thursday-Sunday.

media release: Faisal Abdu’Allah: DARK MATTER, September 17, 2022 – April 2, 2023.

Exhibition Celebration: Friday September 16 • 5–8 PM, with artist Talk • 6:30–7:30 PM, music by DJ Phil Money.

Live Salon: Artist Faisal Abdu’Allah, who, along with being a renowned printmaker and photographer, is a trained barber, returns this weekend for another Live Salon performance in MMoCA’s Lobby, on April 1 at 2 pm. In the chair for a haircut and conversation will be Alan Chancellor, who collaborated with Abdu’Allah on the Black Panther Chronicles (2022), on view in the artist’s exhibition DARK MATTER.

Chancellor is a Free & Accepted Mason in Madison’s Capital City Lodge No. 2 and a youth program leader with the Dane County Department of Human Services. He also is an expert on the beginnings of Free & Accepted Masonry in Wisconsin.

Abdu’Allah has fully integrated barbering into his artistic practice, most notably through his community-based Live Salon performances (2006–present). During each Live Salon session, he provides a haircut to a participant and engages them in open-ended conversations about issues surrounding contemporary social identity and representation.

Be sure to take explore DARK MATTER while you are at the Museum this weekend. It closes on Sunday, April 2. Two free drop-in tours of the show are available before and after the Live Salon, at 1:30 and 3 PM.

DARK MATTER by British artist Faisal Abdu’Allah explores cultural representation and the systems of power that structure our experiences of the world.

DARK MATTER includes a selection of the artist’s most celebrated series, as well as a reconstruction of Garden of Eden (2003), an architectural installation the artist created in collaboration with renowned architect Sir David Adjaye. Exploring issues of privilege, exclusion, and the voyeuristic gaze, this interactive piece separates visitors based on genetic traits—in this case, eye color—in order to undermine our perceptions of difference and alienation. With Garden of Eden, Abdu’Allah points to the privileges conferred to certain people based on the nuances of their genetic matter.

Take a look at the exhibit any time of day via MMoCA’s newest virtual tour, now available on the Virtual Tours page.

In other works Abdu’Allah uses human hair, a carrier of DNA, and focuses on the ritual of cutting hair. Abdu’Allah is also a trained barber, a profession he has fully integrated into his artistic practice, most notably through his community-based Live Salon performances (2006–present). During each Live Salon session, he provides free haircuts to willing museum visitors and engages them in open-ended conversations about issues surrounding contemporary social identity and representation. In Hair Traits (2016–present), Abdu’Allah uses participants’ actual hair, which he blends into a fine powder to render their portrait on paper. Regarding his use of human hair, he explains, “Essentially, it brings their DNA, their identity, into the work. Our hair carries a trace of who we are, and it is extremely political. In the history of post-colonialism, the straighter your hair was, the higher up on the chain of respect you were.”

DARK MATTER will also feature a counter-monument by Abdu’Allah, which he first conceived of several years ago in response to debates about the role of monuments and their removal from public view. His solution was to commission artists of color to create new monuments that represent their own aesthetics, histories, and experiences. Commissioned by MMoCA, Blu³eprint was realized in collaboration with the fine arts team at Quarra Stone Company in Madison and Italy-based master stone carver and sculptor Martin Foot. The counter-monument will be prominently placed at MMoCA as a public work of art.

Faisal Abdu’Allah is a British-born, Wisconsin-based artist and barber. He studied in London at the Royal College of Art. He is Professor of Printmaking and Associate Dean for the Arts in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In 2021, Abdu’Allah was named the Chazen Family Distinguished Chair in Art at UW-Madison.

related events: The Beginnings of Prince Hall Free & Accepted Masonry in Wisconsin: A Lecture Featuring Alan Chancellor

Thursday, January 19, 2023 • 6 PM • Free Admission • Lecture Hall

Madison Museum of Contemporary Art will present a special lecture titled The Beginnings of Prince Hall Free & Accepted Masonry (F. & A.M.) in Wisconsin, by Alan Chancellor, who is a Free & Accepted Mason in Madison’s Capitol City Lodge No. 2. The lecture takes place on Thursday, January 19, 2023, from 6–7 PM in the Museum Lecture Hall. Admission is free.

Madison’s Capitol City Lodge No. 2, one of eleven lodges belonging to The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge F. & A. M. of Wisconsin, Inc. Capitol City, was established in 1906 as a lodge in the Illinois jurisdiction. Lodge members are dedicated to the pursuit of good works in the community, including contributing to food pantries, raising funds to provide financial assistance to families and educational scholarships to students, and coordinating various aid and community building efforts through local Black churches.

“If there is a need in the community, we respond,” Chancellor says. Prince Hall F. & A. Masons rarely speak publicly about their organization, preferring instead to serve the community quietly. This lecture is a rare opportunity to learn about the organization, its works, and its accomplishments.

The lecture was inspired by the exhibition by Madison-based artist Faisal Abdu’Allah titled DARK MATTER, on view in the Main Galleries through April 2, 2023. The exhibition includes Abdu’Allah’s Prince Hall series (2022), showing larger-than-life photographic portraits of six Capitol City Lodge members woven as tapestries. Abdu’Allah often volunteers to work with local youth alongside Chancellor, a program leader with the Dane County Department of Human Services. Also on view in DARK MATTER is Black Panther Chronicles (2022) drawn from Chancellor’s collection of Marvel comic books from the eponymous series.

Organized by MMoCA’s Education Department, the event is from 5–8 PM, with docent-led tours of DARK MATTER available at 4:45 PM and 5:15 PM. The lecture and tours are admission free.

Presenting Sponsorship for Faisal Abdu’Allah: DARK MATTER has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Major Sponsorship has been provided by Gina and Michael Carter, and Husch Blackwell. Additional support has been provided by Dane Arts with additional funds from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation, the Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of the Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation.