Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure Performance by Ace Lehner
Cost
Where
Maxon Mills
37 Furnace Bank Road
Wassaic, NY 12592
When
Saturday, June 27, 2026
3:30–6 PM
Who
Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure is an installation and social practice performance piece that takes the motif of the barbershop and queers it, creating a space for queer world-making. Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure embraces the ethos of queer failure (a concept developed by queer theorist Jack Halberstam in a book by the same name) as a productive way of proposing alternatives rather than adhering to barbershop norms which under the guise of giving haircuts often reinforce notions about heteropatriarchal masculinity. Haircuts are given first come-first served, by the artist, Ace Lehner, who is not a trained barber but who has been cutting hair outside of sanctioned barber channels for over two decades; hence part of the ethos of queer failure. In exchange for a haircut, participants agree to engage in an act of queer world-making before their haircut grows out. The act associated with the haircut is negotiated during one’s haircut.
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About the Artist
Ace Lehner is an interdisciplinary visual culture scholar and artist specializing in critical engagement with identity and representation. Lehner’s areas of expertise include trans and queer visual culture and theory, critical approaches to race and representation, modern and contemporary art history and visual culture, photography history and theory, and performance. Lehner has exhibited at the International Center of Photography, New York, NY; Spring/Break Art Fair, New York, NY; Brewer Harris Projects, Syracuse New York, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA; The National Queer Arts Festival at SomArts in San Francisco, CA; Practice Gallery, Philadelphia, PA; SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA; La Centrale Gallery Powerhouse, Montreal Quebec, Canada; The Fleming Museum, Burlington, VT; and many others. Lehner’s writing on art and visual culture has appeared in Art Journal, Cultural Politics, Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change, Journal on Images and Culture, Media-N: Journal of the New Media Caucus, Visual Studies and numerous anthologies. Lehner holds a Ph.D. in Visual Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MFA Fine Art / MA Visual Studies from California College of the Arts and is currently a Tenure Track professor in Art and Art History at the University of Vermont.
Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure Performance by Ace Lehner
Cost
Where
Maxon Mills
37 Furnace Bank Road
Wassaic, NY 12592
When
Saturday, June 27, 2026
3:30–6 PM
Who
Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure is an installation and social practice performance piece that takes the motif of the barbershop and queers it, creating a space for queer world-making. Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure embraces the ethos of queer failure (a concept developed by queer theorist Jack Halberstam in a book by the same name) as a productive way of proposing alternatives rather than adhering to barbershop norms which under the guise of giving haircuts often reinforce notions about heteropatriarchal masculinity. Haircuts are given first come-first served, by the artist, Ace Lehner, who is not a trained barber but who has been cutting hair outside of sanctioned barber channels for over two decades; hence part of the ethos of queer failure. In exchange for a haircut, participants agree to engage in an act of queer world-making before their haircut grows out. The act associated with the haircut is negotiated during one’s haircut.
About the Artist
Ace Lehner is an interdisciplinary visual culture scholar and artist specializing in critical engagement with identity and representation. Lehner’s areas of expertise include trans and queer visual culture and theory, critical approaches to race and representation, modern and contemporary art history and visual culture, photography history and theory, and performance. Lehner has exhibited at the International Center of Photography, New York, NY; Spring/Break Art Fair, New York, NY; Brewer Harris Projects, Syracuse New York, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA; The National Queer Arts Festival at SomArts in San Francisco, CA; Practice Gallery, Philadelphia, PA; SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA; La Centrale Gallery Powerhouse, Montreal Quebec, Canada; The Fleming Museum, Burlington, VT; and many others. Lehner’s writing on art and visual culture has appeared in Art Journal, Cultural Politics, Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change, Journal on Images and Culture, Media-N: Journal of the New Media Caucus, Visual Studies and numerous anthologies. Lehner holds a Ph.D. in Visual Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MFA Fine Art / MA Visual Studies from California College of the Arts and is currently a Tenure Track professor in Art and Art History at the University of Vermont.
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