Sorrento

About the Exhibition

Salon 21 is pleased to present “Inner Lives,” a group exhibition of contemporary female painters and designers, opening to the public on November 5, 2025. The exhibition explores the enduring tradition of women artists turning their gaze toward themselves and one another. Inspired by the bold self-fashioning of Artemisia Gentileschi, who challenged the boundaries of representation of her time, the intimate self-portraits of Frida Kahlo, who transformed personal experience into universal allegory, to the tender, domestic interiors of Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt, these emerging talents are working within a tradition of using portraiture and scenes of daily life to articulate the complexities of female identity, intimacy, and presence.

About the Artist

Hayley Axelrad is a Toronto-based artist whose work transports viewers into hedonistic, often absurd worlds that challenge the myths surrounding success, luxury, and desire. Her paintings are a playful yet poignant exploration of the tension between outward perfection and inner discontent.

Humor is a defining characteristic of her work, which remains decidedly unpretentious and light-hearted. Axelrad’s characters, frequently holding a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, inhabit spaces where excess and vulnerability collide. Her thick, textured oil paintings are distinguished by bold colors and a matte, almost chalk-like finish.