I'm quite far behind on artist collaborations, so I'm doing some more catching up. Today we have British artist Morag Myerscough for Bobbi Brown, whose collection was released in the spring of 2020. It was a small collection consisting of an eyeshadow palette, highlighter and two lipsticks. I purchased one of the lipsticks and the two other items…and of course I can't seem to find the lipstick. (I'm really hoping to take a full week off of work this summer to properly re-organize the Museum's collection, as things keep going missing or take literally hours to locate. Sigh.)




Born and raised in London, Myerscough came from a family of artists. Her father was a highly sought-after session musician in the 1960s and '70s, while her mother was a textile artist. Myerscough was settled on an artistic career even before she was out of elementary school. After graduating from St. Martin's where she studied graphic design, Myerscough attended the Royal College of Art. In 1993 she established Studio Myerscough, and in 2010 Supergrouplondon, a collaborative studio with fellow artist and partner Luke Morgan, was born. You can read more about her professional background at Eye Magazine.
(image from colourstudies.com)
Myerscough's vibrant color combinations are influenced by her mother as well as several artists, including Josef Albers and '80s collective Memphis (remember them from my Hermès post?) She explains, "[My style of] colour could be from my mother, I think my colour sense comes from being very young and understanding the difference between a dye made from a natural source and one from an artificial source. When I make my big pieces of work I much prefer to paint them as I can get pure pigments and as they are used in spaces it is important how colour responds to light. There is nothing better than to see an amazing colour in the right environment, it can change your whole mood. I like to be brave with colour, at college I was introduced to Albers, and I was very interested in his theories on how colours respond to each other." She adds, "I really hate when people say that colour is exclusive to children, what sad people they must be. Adults need colour in their lives as much or maybe more than children. Colour is so abundant in nature and we need it more in our built environment." Hear hear!
In 2017 Myerscough designed the Artskickers stage for a beloved community hub in Dalton Garden. Over 200 events are held here each year.
Her color choices combined with the tidy, modern geometric patterns reflect both her graphic design background as well as the influence of artists such as Bridget Riley and Dan Flavin. Here are a couple examples so you can see the resemblance.
Bridget Riley, Nataraja, 1993
(image from tate.org.uk)
Dan Flavin, "Untitled (In Honor of Leo at the 30th Anniversary of his Gallery)," 1987
(image from thoughtco.com)
You know I adore big bold swathes of color, but it's Myerscough's dedication to community engagement and overall approach to art that speak to me the most. Adopting a Chinese proverb as her mantra, "make happy those who are near and those who are far will come," Myerscough aims to instill a sense of belonging among the people using the space she's been commissioned to reimagine. She believes art is a unifying concept that can bring people together and connect them to certain places. A beautiful example is the Burntwood School, where Myerscough designed many of the interior and exterior wall patterns. "I put a narrative in the building, we make places where people feel they belong. I like working collaboratively with architects…we have made some great steps in how schools are used and how the students connect with their schools. The team needs to want the same result and for the project to be successful this involves everybody. The students' grades have increased hugely, I believe this is because they have a building that works for them, that they can be proud of, with teachers that care about them and when you put all the parts together it produces success," she says. I wonder if my anxiety would have been mitigated if I had attended a school with this sort of art everywhere. Probably not, but it's at least nice to look at.


I also love the Vinyl Lounge, a mixed-used space that used to be an office owned by British music company EMI in the '70s. Myerscough carefully researched the history of the buildings to design something that paid homage to their past while accommodating modern needs. The furniture and other decor consisted of vintage eBay buys or made by Luke Morgan with reclaimed materials. The "lounge" itself served as a gathering place. In this way the space incorporates local heritage and engages the community. "I do focus on belonging. I want to find out from people what it means to them. Because it may mean different things to different ages, like for the older ones it might be family, while with young ones it might be friends. I also try to see what part of it makes you feel belonged; is it just your culture or is it about talking with each other? It does not matter that you do not come from the same place but can still belong together."


But I do have some mixed feelings towards other projects. While I admire Myerscough's approach and would be honored to be able to visit one of her works in person, at the same time I'd most likely want to punch it. Perhaps I'm too cynical not about public art in general, but Myerscough's optimistic outlook more specifically. It's a bit too cheerful and positive for my grumpy, pessimistic self, or at least, the text is. If I was confronted by Love At First Sight, for example, I'd roll my eyes and walk right on by. Ditto for the billboards painted in honor of the frontline NHS workers during the early part of the pandemic. It's a really nice thought, but calling them "heroes" is problematic, and frankly a mural comes off as much as an empty gesture as clapping did. Overall, I think her installations work better with no words, because there's no direction then and people can take whatever they want from it. Words create additional meaning and context, so without them there's more freedom of interpretation. However, I don't think Myerscough would be offended if she read this because at least I have some sort of reaction. We share the same belief that art should have some kind of impact on the viewer, whether it's bad or good. She says, "The main aim is that people aren’t indifferent to it. I want people to react. I totally understand some people might hate my work and I would rather have that than just dismiss it with indifference. I want people to have conversations; to experience something they didn’t expect. That’s why I love making work in public spaces, where people might stumble across a piece of work and have it change their thoughts for the day – ideally for the better." I agree that part of art's purpose is making one feel something and not nothing.


Anyway, I wholeheartedly applaud and respect the incredible work she's done for children's hospitals, but I fundamentally disagree with the notion of art in hospitals. The rooms at the Sheffield's Children's Hospital are very welcoming, and at the Royal London Children's Hospital, she used the children's own drawings part of the decor. "In hospitals I really do want to brighten people’s days, to raise their moods, to make them feel positive and hopeful. I want to make spaces that feel like home, which people enjoy being in. And ultimately to help people feel better…when I was commissioned by Vital Arts to design the five dining rooms at the Royal London Children’s hospital, I proposed to work with [poet Lemn Sissay] on the project. He did poetry workshops with the young patients and I ran visual workshops with the words. We then made murals by combining the words with the visuals, so the dining rooms belonged to the young patients – it was their ideas on the walls. I also displayed all the young patients’ original drawings in frames on the walls, so they and their parents could see it and it was clear the patients were at the centre of the artwork. It’s important that young patients and their families feel comfortable in these environments, because often they stay for long periods of time or return regularly as a child grows."
(images from moragmyerscough.com)

These are wonderful, innovative ideas and Myerscough's style is absolutely perfect for this type of project, but as someone who has spent far too much time in hospitals on account of ailing parents, I can tell you that absolutely zero amount or style of art is going to combat the dread and fear. Hospitals are for the very ill and dying, and despite some spotty evidence of the benefit of art in hospitals, I still think there's no artist in the world whose work can even come close to offsetting that type of negative energy. As both a patient and a visitor I'd honestly prefer it if art wasn't in hospitals and have them remain drab and depressing – it's far more appropriate for the space. Again, this is all just a matter of opinion. (And I certainly support art therapy where the patient creates art themselves.)
(images from designboom.com)
Getting back to the Bobbi Brown collab, I'm not sure how or why it came about. Nor do I know why she designed the patterns she did for the collection, or if she had an input on the makeup shades. I did reach out for an interview with the artist but didn't hear back. I will say I think her work translated well to the packaging, which can be tricky for artists who typically work on large-scale designs. But I'd love to hear Myerscough's thoughts on makeup colors, how makeup can help bring people together and why she took on the collaboration. She works primarily on big environmental graphics for community spaces and doesn't have a lot of commercial collabs – the only other thing with her work that you'd find in a store was a collection for Method cleaning products, and even that was part of the larger Sheffield hospital project – so I'm curious to know what attracted her to designing the packaging for a makeup collection. It's a bit inconsistent with Myerscough's usual commissions. Perhaps it's precisely how different it is that piqued her interest. In any case, the Bobbi Brown collection is not even mentioned on her website.


Thoughts on Myerscough's work? What does the makeup community mean to you? Do you feel as though you're part of it?
I was hoping to post about Bobbi Brown's collaboration from this past spring, a partnership with British artist Morag Myerscough, but I realized I never got around to writing about an Asia-exclusive collab from last year so I'm covering that first. In the spring of 2019 the brand teamed up with Korean-born, New York-based artist Yoon Hyup, whose abstract urban landscapes, appropriately enough, have been created and displayed in cities across the globe. For Bobbi Brown's cushion compacts the artist made three designs: New York Skyline (Manhattan), Spread Love (depicting the Brooklyn Bridge) and Band of Light (representing Times Square).



Hyup (b. 1982) was born and raised in Seoul. He began what would become a lifelong love affair with skateboarding and skate culture at the age of 9.

(image from recessnewyork.com)
While skateboarding is a key inspiration for his work – his lines and dots represent how he feels when skateboarding (like "flowing water", he says), music remains his primary influence. He studied violin for most of his childhood, getting scolded for improvising during lessons. As a teenager Hyup discovered hip-hop and graffiti magazines at a nearby U.S. naval base, further feeding his appetite for skate culture, music and art. In college he started out studying graphic design as he wanted to design skateboards, but quickly realized he enjoyed painting more. One night at a party a DJ asked him to paint while he spun, and for Hyup, there was no turning back. He has painted to music ever since. "From the early 2000’s, a hip hop party called “Afroking Party” was getting popular in Seoul. I would hang with DJs, MCs, B-Boys, skaters, writers and photographers there. It was the first place where I exhibited my artworks and perform live painting. A DJ crew wanted me to paint live while he performed his set, a mix hip hop, funk, disco, we’d perform all night. That was when I was 23 or 24 years old, and then I met more and more people, they would learn about me and ask me to do more paintings. I started to use lines and dots when I performed live painting, because I wanted to express something quick while DJ Soulscape and DJ Plastic Kid were spinning." Hyup listens to a variety of jazz, hip-hop, funk, soul and disco. To get an idea of what such a mix sounds like, you check out one of his playlists here.

Hyup likens his improvisational process to jazz or rap. For larger projects he sketches the overall structure, but generally does not draw beforehand. "I don’t sketch when I paint. If I need to sketch, I would only put the big structure. Other than this, I only do with free-hands on canvas or wall paintings without sketches. It may be similar to a jazz performance which only has a plan but plays impromptu. It’s similar feeling from listening improvisational music, funk or freestyle rap. When I skate, I feel rhythm and flow…I like to express these feelings with lines and dots."

Hyup's forté is vibrant city life, but he is equally adept at representing more calming scenes, such as tropical vistas and clouds. And while he cites American graffiti artists such as Futura, Lee Quinones and Mark Gonzales, along with Jean-Michel Basquiat and designer Don Pendleton as influences (I'd add Mondrian to the list), Hyup also reinterprets elements of traditional Korean art. Paintings of clouds, along with the use of obangsaek – five colors associated with the cardinal directions – are the artist's way of paying homage to his cultural heritage. "Many traditional Korean forms, such as vine clouds and wind clouds, surface in my paintings. I often paint with the five colors associated with my native country – red, blue, yellow, black and white. This color palette can be found in many things that relate to Korean culture, such as art, dress, and the painting for architecture. I use those colors to pay honor to my roots. I also find other colorways from nature and things around me."

(images from yoonhyup.com)
Hyup's work generally consists of cityscapes, but occasionally his playfulness shines through via characters from pop culture. I'm delighted with these portraits of Cookie Monster and the Pillsbury Dough Boy! Fun fact: I was obsessed with the Pillsbury Dough Boy when I was little and have a decent collection of memorabilia. I'd love to see Pills on a shirt, similar to the Mickey Mouse ones Hyup made for Uniqlo.


Also, how precious is this holiday wonderland he created in Shanghai last year?

(images from @ynhp and yoonhyup.com)
As for the collab with Bobbi, I'm not sure how it came about or why Hyup decided to partner with the company. (I emailed to request an interview but never heard back, sadly.) "I collaborate when I already know the brand well enough or when it naturally happens. Honestly, I haven't had to think about a brand I want to collaborate with because luckily, clients have always come to me and proposed collaborations. Sometimes I don't do it when I don't understand the brand well enough or it doesn't fit well with my style," he says. A cosmetics collaboration doesn't seem like it would align with the artist's interests, especially given his previous work for sportswear and apparel stores located in urban locations, like Nike's Gangnam headquarters and the Rag and Bone store in Soho.

This mural centers on the number 23, worn by basketball star Michael Jordan.
(image from idnworld.com)
This mural, entitled Wishing a Bright Sunny Day, has rightfully drawn comparisons to the work of Keith Haring.
(image from hypebeast.com)
Hyup also designed the cover art for a CD box set for Ella Fitzgerald in honor of the singer's 1ooth birthday in 2017, which was fitting given jazz's influence on his process.

So makeup seems a little out of left field. I also can't figure out why only the city of New York was featured on the compacts, as these were Asia-exclusive…it would have made a bit more sense to include Seoul as well. Perhaps it's Hyup's love for NYC that propelled the focus on New York. In any case, I believe all three of the designs were new for Bobbi Brown, but there are similarities. Here's Rooftop Jam (2019) and Spread Love (2014) – the latter has the same name as the cushion compact showing the Brooklyn Bridge.


(images from yoonhyup.com)

While I'd still like to unravel the mystery of the collaboration's origin, I enjoyed this collection nevertheless. Hyup's improvisational method perfectly captures the frenetic pace of cities, and I don't think his work would have the same effect if he painted without music. And New York is always magical so if they had to focus on any one city I'm glad it was the Big Apple.
What do you think? Which case is your favorite? Mine is Band of Light. I don't like to actually visit Times Square in person, but this image is so vibrant I can practically hear its pulse.

This was one of those collections I didn't think twice about, just pounced as soon as it was available at Neiman Marcus. As the insert above indicates, for the brand's 25th anniversary, Bobbi Brown collaborated with illustrator Richard Haines to create 3 palettes that represent 3 of the world's top fashion cities: Paris, London and New York.

Here's Paris. The woman's outfit is great, but I particularly love the rendering of the Eiffel Tower.


London – the trench coat is perfection:


And here's New York. Those striped tuxedo pants look so familiar but I can't place them. However, I'm almost positive that's a Balenciaga City bag.


Now for a little background on Richard Haines. The New York-based artist started drawing at the tender age of 5. In an interview for Opening Ceremony's blog, he says, "Everyone else was drawing airplanes, and I was drawing wedding dresses…I stayed with my grandparents every summer, and my grandfather got The New York Times everyday. When I was about ten, I was looking through it and there was coverage of the Paris couture collections–this was like 1962 or 1963. They were all drawings. You know, there were no photographs because they didn't have the technology to send them back then. So it was all of these beautiful fashion illustrations of Givenchy and Dior, and they were so elegant. I remember thinking 'Oh my god, how can someone make these beautiful drawings with just a few lines and give out all that information?' That was kind of where the obsession started."
In scrolling through his Instagram, two things immediately jumped out. One, Haines is left-handed. You know how I'm fascinated with lefties!

Two, he's got a great sense of humor.
(images from instagram.com)
Naturally I kept scouring his account to find some favorites. Haines is a regular at the world's biggest fashion shows now, and he greatly enjoys the immediacy and energy of the runway: "Drawing at the shows is incredible—there is something about the intimacy of that moment. I find that, if someone asks me to do something after a show from photos, it’s never going to be the same, its never going to have that aliveness. There’s something about the energy of the model on a runway, what that designer is presenting, the kind of the vibe of the audience and that’s all in that drawing—or at least, I want it to be, that's the goal!" In looking at his work I can definitely see the bustling liveliness of the shows. The lines are almost haphazard, borderline sloppy, yet still form a cohesive and powerful image. For example, in the sketches Haines created for this year's couture shows at Paris Fashion Week, I was able to easily identify all of the clothing. At first glance the pieces look rather hastily, frenetically drawn, but ultimately the image comes together to perfectly capture the fleeting essence of fashion.

Here's a comparison to the actual dress.
(images from instagram.com and vogue.com)

(images from instagram.com and fashiontimes.com)
(image from instagram.com)
(images from vogue.com)
While Haines is a fixture at the front rows, it's street style that seems to intrigue him the most. In his mind, runway displays aren't that much different from the street – both involve people-watching, one of Haines's favorite activities. "I've realized I have a short attention span and fashion is perfect for that, because it's a continual feed of ideas, color, performance, beauty, and people. It's really exciting! I mean I really just love watching people, even just walking down the street here [in Bushwick]. I see these amazing kids and in its own way, it's a fashion show," he says.
Haines focuses primarily on menswear, something that in my mind seems to be somewhat lacking from the oeuvre of most fashion illustrators. I love women's fashion, of course, but it's good to see the guys getting their due. Even though the Bobbi palettes only feature women, which makes sense since they're makeup, I still appreciate a collab with an artist who generally doesn't have such an emphasis on women's wear.



(images from instagram.com)
My favorite series is one he did for high-end men's fashion site Mr. Porter (the men's equivalent of net-a-porter.) Haines visited 6 different cities, interviewing and sketching the owners of his favorite looks. I like to think of these as a sort of precursor to the Bobbi Brown palettes. While these are actual people and the women on the palettes are more of a general representation of that city's style, the concept is similar.



(images from blog.jedroot.com)
Haines also has several fashion collaborations under his belt. Not a surprise, since he was a designer himself for over 25 years before returning to his original passion for illustration. He tells Out, "I moved to New York thinking I wanted to be a fashion illustrator, but my style wasn’t really developed, and it wasn’t assertive, confident. There’s something apologetic about it, so I stopped doing it. That’s when I became a fashion designer for 25-30 years. By the time I started it again, I had the confidence to get behind it, and to really own my work — which was not that long ago. I think that’s when my style happened."


(images from vogue.com)
In addition to teaming up with Bobbi Brown, this fall Haines also collaborated with Moore & Giles for a collection of leather goods. I like the overall look of the illustrations. They're sporty – most of the men are engaged in some kind of athletic activity – but still refined and gentlemanly (especially the dude in the top hat and tails).


(images from mooreandgiles.com)
Overall, I like the slightly disheveled, immediate feel of Haines' work. While I do think it's a bit odd to have a collaboration between a makeup brand and a fashion illustrator whose main interest is menswear, Haines demonstrates he's equally adept at drawing well-dressed women as well as depicting a particular moment or atmosphere – perfect for capturing the individual, of-the-moment style of the world's most fashion-forward cities.
What do you think? I wonder how much Haines would charge to draw the husband…he is immensely fashionable and I'd love to see him wearing one of his best outfits in illustrated form. 🙂
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Sometimes tons of crystals on a palette can appear, for lack of a better word, cheap. Not so with this very tasteful mirror compact created by jewelry line Lulu Frost for Bobbi Brown's Hollywood-inspired holiday collection. Lisa Salzer, founder and creative director of Lulu Frost, spoke to elle.com about how the collaboration developed. "[Bobbi] bought a necklace of mine and wore it out to a wedding and loved it…she actually called us afterwards and from then on, a great relationship was born.”
I thought the pattern was really unique and pretty, and I like that there's a retro feel to it without being costume-y. It's the ultimate expression of "modern vintage".





Salzer states that the design took its inspiration from an old compact that Brown had purchased at a flea market. “So I took that [compact] and created one that was encrusted with an Art Deco pattern of crystals on top. I love Deco. It’s so classic, the craftsmanship is incredible, and there’s also a geometry to it that’s very cool.”
Since I'm short on time today I will not go into comparing this piece to Art Deco compacts or jewelry, but I will say that it's a good representation of the Lulu Frost style. Incidentally, I did look at the website to see if there was anything identical to the pattern on this compact. There were similar items but nothing identical, so I was pleased that Salzer did something different just for this collaboration but still kept true to her aesthetic.
What do you think of this compact? Too blingy or just right?
For the second part of the Museum's spotlight on crystal details, I thought I'd focus on Harrod's totally blinged out exclusive Swarovski collection. Items include: a Bobbi Brown palette, Sisley Phyto Poudre Compacte, Benefit High Beam liquid highlighter, Givenchy eyeshadow quad, Lancôme Hypnose mascara and Estee Lauder lipsticks.

(images from harrods.com, beautyalmanac.com, designerplanet.org)
I'm glad I visited London in September, but I sort of wish I could go back to pick up these items, particularly the Sisley palette – it's sold out online. On the other hand, I have some crystal items from previous holiday collections, so maybe it's good I can't buy these since I don't want to blind myself. 😛
What better way to kick off the official start of holiday parties and shopping madness than with this boozey highlighter from Bobbi Brown? While Bobbi has dabbled in special edition packaging before, I believe this is the first time a design has actually made it onto the makeup itself.
Love the 50s-style shaker and glass – very Mad Men, no?



Up close - I like to think that little line at the bottom of the glass is a partial outline of an olive:

With flash:

While it's not as intricate as some patterns I've seen (see Chantecaille's butterfly eyeshadows) this is a fun design and lends itself perfectly to a shimmery body highlighter.
Hope everyone has a safe and sane Black Friday. 🙂
Bobbi Brown's Tortoiseshell collection came out over a month ago, but since I tend to be like a tortoise myself in terms of getting posts up when the collection is actually new, I'm talking about it now. I just adore tortoiseshell for fall and I don't think it's ever been used in makeup packaging.

To use this material for brush handles is genius:
As with the fall 2009 Ivy League collection, this collection's ads leans a bit nerdy and academic so of course I love it. The model is sporting glasses (with tortoiseshell rims, naturally)! Apparently they're based on Bobbi's own tortoiseshell frames.
(images from nordstrom.com and bobbibrowncosmetics.com)
And there's even a whole tutorial on how to do your eye makeup with specs. While I'm not a big fan of makeup "rules", I do like that Bobbi recognized that there is a great legion of bespectacled ladies out there who could use a basic guide.
(image from themakeupblogger.com)
I didn't buy anything from this collection, but rest assured that if I didn't have a slew of brushes already and was actually into palettes, I'd be all over it. What did you buy from it or are planning to buy?
I was most pleased to see Bobbi Brown branching out for a collaboration with a fashion designer, and the resulting prettily designed bag. The company partnered with Tibi. Bobbi, whose favorite flower is the peony, wanted delicate pinks but still something that was "equal parts lovely and edgy". Hence the mix of a pink flower and dark grey snake scales, matching the palette's offering of pink and grey eye shadows.
(image from bloomingdales.com)
The set in its entirety:
(image from tibi.com)
Hopefully this will be the start of more pretty, limited edition packaging from Bobbi!
Here at the Makeup Museum I'm not only interested in design and packaging of makeup items, but also the images used to sell makeup. And I couldn't resist a quick post about this one. It's almost back-to-school time, which is the Curator's favorite time of year. Rather than a regular planner I actually buy an academic calendar so I can pretend to either be a student or an art history professor. This year, Bobbi Brown is enabling me to continue my fantasy with her Ivy League collection. Makeup crossed with academia?!! This wanna-be Ph.D. is absolutely sold!
