From April 12 to May 17, P21 presents Ew! Hair in my food! (으웩! 음식에서 머리카락!), a solo exhibition by Shin Min (b.1985). Shin Min has long embodied her anger toward injustice and oppression experienced as a woman, an art worker, and a service laborer through the depiction of specific figures. In this exhibition, she presents new works from her Usual Suspects series, using "hair" as a central motif.

Shin explores the realities faced by women workers in low-wage, high-intensity service jobs. Drawing from her own experiences working in large foreign-owned fast-food chains and cafés to make a living, she repurposes discarded potato sack packaging to craft depictions of female laborers in fast-food uniforms with black ribbon hairnets. The artist consistently works with paper as her main material, repeatedly layering and painting on it to express the surveillance and identity suppression endured by workers. The exaggerated poses and furious expressions of her paper figures highlight the injustices women and marginalized individuals face in society. Inside each figure, Shin inserts a written prayer—wishing that female service workers and viewers of her work may be spared from harm—imbuing each form with her personal passion and intent.

This exhibition begins with the question, “Why do we find body hair disgusting?” and focuses on the hair of service workers, which is systemically controlled in the name of hygiene. Because hair is seen as unsanitary, service workers are expected to always appear clean and well-groomed. For this reason, women are often required to wear hairnets and are subject to grooming regulations that even restrict how they can cut their hair. Shin sees the hairnet, used to keep hair from falling loose, as a symbol of the capitalist system’s control over female laborers. Through this lens, the exhibition reveals the femininity demanded of women workers in society and their resulting low social status. Based on her own experiences, Shin’s work articulates the reality of being disrespected both as a woman and as a worker, while also examining the performative aspects required in service labor roles.