Small Minneapolis art gallery expands to New York City and brings local artists along

Since 2016, Hair and Nails gallery has operated out of a small south Minneapolis storefront. But it’s had a national presence, doing Los Angeles pop-ups and Miami art fairs.

Popping up wasn’t enough.

This month, the contemporary art gallery opened an outpost in New York City.

On a Chinatown sidewalk, a pink arrow points the way to the small, garden-level gallery, packed with paintings, photographs and sculptures from 15 artists, most of them Minnesota-based.

“We wanted to bring the whole crew,” explained Ryan Fontaine, Hair and Nails’ co-founder.

Fontaine and co-founder Kristin Van Loon heard about the space from a nearby gallerist. They had been considering an expansion to Los Angeles but decided that city was too spread out. Here, at 39 Henry St., they’re near other galleries and part of a community. The space was raw — it needed drainage, lighting and flooring — but intriguing.

“I walked through the door and was like, ‘Yes!’ ” Van Loon said. “It felt like exactly the right scale, the right vibe.”

They opened their first show, “Freshly For You,” in a matter of weeks and just six days after another opening at their Minneapolis location. That’s when nearby Chinatown galleries were also hosting open hours, timed with a busy week in the New York City art world, including the mega Armory Show.

“It was absolutely imperative to be synched up with this neighborhood,” Van Loon said. “We would not have chosen this timing, but it was absolutely worth the push, right?”

Freshly For You hums with provocative works from buzzy artists, most of whom Hair and Nails represents, including Rachel Youn and Minnesota artists Cameron Patricia Downey and Emma Beatrez.

Having a physical space in New York helps connect those artists to national collectors and curators, Fontaine said. “We have a really big roster, especially for the size of our gallery, and we need to provide opportunities to exhibit all those artists. Having a second location really allows us to do that — to really honor that commitment.”

Those artists “are all growing really fast,” Van Loon added. “So we want to give them more exhibition opportunities, especially in the massively important New York City.”

One of those artists is Sophia Chai, whose work blurs the lines between painting, architecture and photography. Born in South Korea, Chai immigrated to New York City at 14 and lived there again as an adult after completing her master’s of fine arts. In 2017, Chai moved from Brooklyn to Rochester, Minn., where her husband is a professor at Mayo Clinic.

Having Hair and Nails in New York gives its artists “a seat at the table,” said Chai, who had her first solo show at Hair and Nails in 2020 and her second last year.

She attended the opening for the New York City group show, which featured two of her photographs, and was struck by the crowd. “Though this was their first show, it was clear they were already well-connected within the art community of New York City.”

Van Loon and Fontaine, who are Hair and Nails’ directors, curators, caterers and art handlers, are looking for a second living space in New York City. For now, they’re staying with friends. They plan to keep their space on 35th Street in the Corcoran neighborhood of Minneapolis, which is connected to their home.

They bought a piece of that home with them to Chinatown.

Above the entrance hangs a 3-foot-wide black-and-white sign that says “Hair and Nails” — a smaller replica of the one that tops their Minneapolis storefront. Prolific sign painter Forrest Wozniak, who made the original, painted it for them when he heard about the new location.