“Exclusive Tonsorial Services” Debuts New Portrait of Community Figure, Building Upon the Artist’s Mission to Illuminate Stories of Courage
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is pleased to present Kate Capshaw: Exclusive Tonsorial Services, the artist's Miami debut and solo museum exhibition. Capshaw’s exhibition will unveil a new portrait honoring community member, Sergei Grant, who is also a barber and entrepreneur sharing his trade as a mentor and advisor to young apprentices. The new work will be accompanied by a selection of photographs capturing local youth and patrons of Grant’s Miami-Dade barbershop.
“Kate Capshaw is a visionary artist whose intimate, personal practice spotlights underrepresented communities. This presentation highlights the shared commitment of both Capshaw and PAMM to amplifying the voices of everyday people and creating a space for meaningful community engagement,” said PAMM Director Franklin Sirmans.
Exclusive Tonsorial Services centers the journey of Grant, who began his career as a barber in 2014 while navigating homelessness. Determined, he moved from cutting hair in local shops to managing two barbershops in Miami. Now the owner of his own shop, Grant also offers mobile barbering services, providing haircuts to those in need while mentoring aspiring barbers. Capshaw’s exhibition highlights the barber and barbershop as vital parts to any community’s ecosystem. Grant’s story is an invitation to honor and celebrate the resilience, dignity, and confidence fostered within these spaces where so many find connection, advice, care, and laughter.
This presentation also expands on Capshaw’s evolving body of work, where portraiture is often paired with sound, photography, and performance as powerful mediums for artistic expression, social commentary, and engagement in a deeper conversation. Her focus on systemic issues, such as homelessness and inequality, continues to expand as she explores new facets of accompaniment and representation.
As an extension of her commitment to portraying important people and stories often overlooked, Capshaw’s upcoming exhibition at PAMM will place Grant at the heart of the narrative. Through this work, she aims to highlight Grant’s role as a barber and his impact as a pillar of energy and support within his community. The exhibition delves into the deeper significance of community care, with Grant representing a figure of integrity, resilience, zeal, and achievement.
“Through this show, I hope to create a space where individuals can see themselves reflected in the art, making it an accessible and inclusive experience,” says Kate Capshaw. “This exhibition is not only a celebration of Sergei’s life and story, but also a broader reflection on the many lives he’s touched. Exhibiting this new work at PAMM, I hope to honor these connections and all the people in our lives and communities who create spaces where we can see each other and accompany one another safely.”
Deeply rooted in community, the show hopes to draw attention to the intersection between art on the walls of an institution and the art that happens daily in a barber chair. Accompanying the exhibition, PAMM will host an artist talk featuring Kate Capshaw, the subject of her painting, Sergei Grant, and PAMM Director, Franklin Sirmans. Capshaw has also partnered with Grant to invite community members to PAMM for free haircuts and museum admission on January 9 and January 11.
The exhibition opens November 21, 2024 and will be on view until January 19, 2025. For more information, please visit pamm.org.
About Kate Capshaw
Kate Capshaw (b. 1953, Fort Worth, Texas) was raised in Ferguson, Missouri. She attended the University of Missouri–Columbia receiving a B.A. in Education and a Master of Education in Special Education in 1976, after which she taught for two years. She set up primary and secondary Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with learning differences in the rural consolidated district of Southern Boone County.
Capshaw began her art studies in drawing, painting, and portraiture in 2009. In 2016, she saw a way to use portraiture to bring public awareness to youth homelessness. The work received critical attention in 2019 when Capshaw was selected as a finalist in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s prestigious juried triennial: the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Following their selection, the portraits debuted in the exhibition The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today. The national tour opened at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in October 2019, in Washington, D.C. It concluded at the Kemper Art Museum in St. Louis in January 2022. Since 2023, the series has toured as a solo exhibition to the Bo Bartlett Gallery at Columbus State University (February 2023) and Henry Street Settlement in New York City (November 2023). Two new portraits featuring Henry Street community members were featured at The Park Avenue Armory in November 2023 and the New York Academy of Art in January 2024.
About PAMM
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), led by Director Franklin Sirmans, promotes artistic expression and the exchange of ideas, advancing public knowledge and appreciation of art, architecture, and design, and reflecting the diverse community of its pivotal geographic location at the crossroads of the Americas. The nearly 40-year-old South Florida institution, formerly known as Miami Art Museum (MAM), opened a new building, designed by world-renowned architects Herzog & de Meuron, on December 4, 2013, in Downtown Miami’s Maurice A. Ferré Park. The facility is a state-of-the-art model for sustainable museum design and progressive programming and features 200,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor program space with flexible galleries; shaded outdoor verandas; a waterfront restaurant and bar; a museum shop; and an education center with a library, media lab, and classroom spaces.