Meet the newest star in the Beijing inner-2nd-ring hutong alternative art space constellation: Aotu Studio. Like many such spaces (a whole bunch have opened over the last year+, it's really a thing), the idea for Aotu germinated after co-founders Ray Wu and Pilar Escuder first crossed paths at now defunct artist-run co-working space HomeShop, where Pilar was an artist-in-residence and Ray an itinerant ex-Toni & Guy stylist looking to jumpstart a solo practice. In one of those "only in Beijing, and probably specifically because of HomeShop's weird vibe" twists of fate, the duo paired up to open Aotu, a combination hair salon / multi-purpose arts venue. Yeah, a place to get a haircut whilst taking the temperature of the current state of contemporary alleyway art in Beijing, and also to soak in a few coffees or harder drinks. (You can throw back a few beers or glasses of wine for 20rmb a pop, a very advisable thing to do before getting your hair cut.) After nearly a year in gestation, during which time Ray and Pilar worked closely with fellow HomeShop alumnus Liu Chang on the architectural ins and outs, Aotu has opened its doors, and on Saturday afternoon will unveil its second exhibit, In-Organic. Ahead of that, I sat down with the duo to get to the bottom of the burning questions pertaining thereto, most urgently: "Wait, so it's, like, a hair salon, AND an art gallery?" [Side-note: If you missed out on the whole HomeShop thing, you can catch a little retrospective installation of their varied practices as part of the Unlived by What is Seen exhibit, on view at Pace Beijing through March 15.] ***

: I'm Ray Wu. I started working in hair styling in 2002, about 12 years ago now. I first had the idea to open my own studio around 2010. At the time I was working at Toni & Guy, but I wanted to start my own business. Around summer 2012, I started looking around for spaces for my own studio in this area. At that time, I met Pilar, who was working in art and design and also interested in finding a space. And we eventually thought, "Why don't we put our practices together? An art space and hair salon, that would be interesting..." So that's how we arrived at the business model. And now here we are. Pilar Escuder: My name is Pilar, I studied Fine Arts in Altea, Spain and I moved to China when I finished studying, in 2011. I'm an artist working with many media: installation, performance art, fiber art, photography. But at the time I first moved to China I was working a lot with photography. I met Ray in 2012, because we shared a studio space in HomeShop, and I proposed that we do something together with photography about hair and art. He really liked the idea, and after many conversations and exchanges of ideas, we decided to do something about art and hair together, eventually deciding to open Aotu Studio. My name is Pilar, my background is in Fine Arts. I studied Fine Arts in Spain for five years. I moved to China when I finished studying, in 2011. I met Ray two years later at HomeShop, we shared a space there. At the time I was working a lot with photography, and I was also interested in fashion, many other things. Ray was looking for a space, and I thought we could do something together, about hair and art. And finally we found this space, with a salon and this arts space to do different events, contemporary art exhibitions, workshops, conferences, artist talks, festivals, movie screenings, everything about contemporary art. Pilar Escuder (left) and Ray Wu (right)

: Yeah. We initially found the space in December 2013, and spent about 11 months setting up the space. There were a lot of design details to work out between signing the contract and officially opening. It took quite a while, especially because we did all of the interior design ourselves, and this kind of thing takes a long time...

: Right. Upstairs is pretty straightforward, it's just a normal hair salon. Before, when I was working at other hair salons, I thought it was kind of a monotonous environment. It could be more fun, more interesting. We envision this first floor to be a very open space. We can do exhibitions, art workshops, conferences, artists talks, festivals, movie screenings... Or you can come in and have a coffee in the morning or afternoon, or drop in for a beer or some wine at night. People doing interesting things can come in, do a pop-up bar, music events, anything suiting the space. Our idea for the first-floor space is for it to be very open, not a fixed gallery space. We're currently in the process of experimenting with it. This is the trial phase. We're getting good feedback, but we're also discovering some kinks as we go along. We just opened, I think after a year we'll have more experience and get a better idea of how people can collaborate with the space.

: I think the biggest difference is our business model. We have our model and our style and they have their style. I know Wukan also does some DJ parties. That's really cool, I like that a lot. They have that kind of style. Our space is more focused on hair and art. In our case, we're not really a DJ place, though we have a lot of friends who want to come here and do DJ parties, and they can. Or friends who want to come and set up an exhibition, or a birthday party, a dance party… I think the space suits many kinds of events. It's more open. Ray Wu: As for the main part of our business, the hair salon, our standards are higher than your typical neighborhood spot. Or if you go to an upscale salon to get a haircut, you get your haircut, then go home. You can come to Aotu, and even if you don't need a haircut, you can have a drink and hang out, check out the art. So it's more interesting than a typical hair salon.

: In this area, right now, there are more and more spaces with this kind of theme. Like Intelligentsia, I: Project Space. I think we really need these kinds of things in Beijing, with good programs about both art and life. Not like 798, where you go there, take a look, and go back home. The people that live around here [in the hutong], they want these kinds of things to introduce more art into daily life. Pilar Escuder: Right now we are looking at what kinds of reactions people have, especially the local people. We have glass walls facing the outside, so sometimes the feeling here is like we are actually in the hutong. It's a private space, but we are also in the street. So it's very interesting to see how the people in the neighborhood connect with the space. Sometimes they want to enter, sometimes they don't want to because they don't know what it is. "What is this? An art space? Where is the hair salon?" Because they can read "hair salon" on the sign but they can't see it. So I think little by little, people will understand the concept of the space. People are asking, "Why this combination, art and hair?" And we think, "Why not?" In my opinion, the concept of hair and art go together.

: Hair is something that represents the individual. Especially in China. Hair in China has a very long history. Hair represents the identity of a person. Hair contains a great deal of information, on a personal, emotional, and cultural level. So we were thinking that today, in 2015, it's very interesting to play with the Chinese history of hair, and to work with that. Our first exhibit, Hair, was an obvious reference to the salon part of the space. It was a group exhibition with international and Chinese artists, all making an artistic reflection under the theme of "hair" with very different methods and opinions.

: I'm very interested in contemporary art, especially emergent artists or artists who are not super famous. It's easy to participate here. You can just come in and talk with us, show us your work. We are not a big gallery. In this case, I met the artist [Marta Troya], I saw her works and I really liked them. Marta has been living here for the last six months. She's very young, a student from CAFA, and she has done very interesting work there. In my opinion, these pieces will give the community, people who are in the hutong, some information, especially because she works with materials that are very common in the hutong. Pilar Escuder: For this year there are some interesting proposals and activities from various artists that we will publish soon. In general, we're interested in artists who reflect the real life of Beijing. Of course, "real life" depends on where you live… It's very different for people who live in Guomao or these kinds of places. That's another kind of Beijing life. But there are many interesting artists in Beijing that are not represented in [commercial] galleries. We are an artist space in the hutong. This is the point. *** Aotu is located at 67 Beixinqiao Tou Tiao, just north of Exit B of the Beixinqiao stop on Subway Line 5. Open daily from 10:30am-10pm. A cut will run you 160rmb, 260rmb, or 380rmb, depending on how involved you want to get with it. Find map + contact info for Aotu Studio in the listing. Drop by on Saturday, Jan 10 from 4pm for the opening of new exhibit In-Organic, and — as always — keep an eye on SmBJ for upcoming events at Aotu.