sam jacob studio completes art gallery/hair salon in london

sam jacob studio has completed the refurbishment of the DKUK gallery in south-east london. located inside peckham’s holdrons arcade, the tiny venue is run by artist and hairdresser daniel kelly and serves as both an art gallery and a hair salon. instead of looking in a mirror as in a traditional barbers, the space — which measures just 10 square meters — displays art for people to look at while having their hair done.

the DKUK gallery is located in south-east london

backed by arts council england, the design seeks to articulate DKUK’s part-commercial, part-cultural venue as an architectural setting. ‘usually the way we look is conceived differently in a gallery or a salon,’ explains sam jacob. ‘the design explores the act of looking through the use of frames, translucencies, perforations and reflections. the space also considers how we are seen (or not) just as much as how we see.’

the venue displays art for people to look at while having their hair cut

the interior scheme uses commercial references, such as the slatwall wall display system, as gallery display mechanisms. ‘the mirror, often the central feature of a hair salon and filled with our own reflection, is used here as a spatial device, multiplying and altering the experience of the space,’ explains jacob. ‘the tiny space — london’s smallest gallery at 2m x 5m — is transformed into a complex viewing device as well as a beautiful space to get your hair cut.’

the entire space measures just 10 square meters

to coincide with the opening of the refitted salon, sam jacob studio presents a selection of its recent work in an exhibition titled ‘make it real’. the show explores design’s ambiguous position between imagination and reality through t-shirts printed as building facades, soil pipes gilded in 24 carat gold, chairs made out of putty, and a new sound piece recorded in the whispering gallery of st paul’s cathedral.

sam jacob studio presents a selection of its recent work in an exhibition titled ‘make it real’