I love all the new spring items I acquired this year and mixing them with highlights from springs past to make a nice exhibition, but this has to be the most depressed spring I've had in a while. I wish I could say my injury was healed, but I'm STILL not nearly there, and the usual mood boost I get come spring is totally absent this year as a result. 🙁
Enough of being all Debbie Downer – here is the Museum's spring 2011 exhibition. I hope it lifts your spirits more than it's been able to for me!
We'll start with the auxilliary exhibitions.
YSL Palette Pop, MAC Liberty of London powder, and 2 Domo Kun figures having an intense discussion about which kittens taste best:
I call these 2 shelves the "metamorphosis" shelves, since they include a Chantecaille butterfly eye shadow, Shu's Morphorium palette, a postcard from MAC's Madame B collection, Nathalie Lété's lovely Paris eye shadow for Bourjois featuring little butterflies, and a Yayoi Kusama for Lancome Juicy Tube with a butterfly.
Stila Live from the Red Carpet palette, Paul & Joe lipstick, and Shu eyeshadow (from their fall 2007 collection, but it's so springy I included it anyway):
Ai Yamaguchi for Shu (2005) cleansing oil and Stila Sleeping Princess palette:
Here's the hallway exhibit.
Now for the main exhibition.
MAC Pearlmatte eyeshadow trio from the Lilly Pulitzer collection and the other Shu Morphorium palette:
Guerlain Cherry Blossom blush, another Chantecaille butterfly eyeshadow, and another Nathalie Lété Bourjois blush:
Laura Mercier Gilded Garden shimmer bloc and Stila Garden Bliss palette:
Ai Yamaguchi for Shu 2004 cleansing oil and a Paul & Joe lipstick:
Yayoi Kusama Juicy Tube, Dior Flower Blossom palette, and a MAC Liberty of London eye shadow:
Stila March Look of the Month palette, Lancome Butterfly Fever palette, MAC Motorhead eye shadow:
MAC Culturebloom postcard and Liberty of London lipgloss, Shu spring 2008 eyeshadow:
Stila Creme Bouquet palette and MAC Hello Kitty lipstick (and a labbit):
Now time to work on the summer exhibition. ;)
I finally managed to install the fall 2010 exhibition. It's a little all over the place, much like this fall's releases. But I think I still captured the essence of fall. :) Sorry these are blur-tastic, the daylight was fading quickly but I was determined to take pictures anyway!
Main exhibition:
Here are some details.
Stila fall 2005 booklet, Paul & Joe fall 2010 eye shadow, YSL Opium palette:
MAC She Who Dares eye shadow, I Love Sephora button (got it as a freebie over the summer!), YSL Fauve palette:
MAC Nocturnelle postcard, one of the Shu Florescent palettes:
Paul & Joe fall 2010 lipstick, Shu Instinct postcard, MAC Wicked Ways lip gloss:
Stila fall 2000 paint can and MAC Sinister lipstick (and a Smorkin' Labbit):
Paul & Joe spring 2008 eye shadow, another Sephora button, Chantecaille Bengali Tiger bronzer:
Dior Impression Cuir palette, Stila Nordstrom September palette, and poor little Maurice – apparently he's very disgruntled!
Auxilliary exhibition in the hallway:
And the other auxilliary exhibition:
Some details.
Benefit Scene Queen palette and Paul & Joe Fall 2010 lipstick (and an argyle Domo!):
Shu Florescent palette, Stila Passage to Paris trio, and Paul & Joe spring 2008 eye shadow (I realize I've used 2 Paul & Joe spring 2008 shadows, which is odd for a fall show, but they had cats on them and cats are huge this season!)
Stila Pretty in Paris palette, Dolce & Gabbana Sicilian Lace bronzer:
MAC Cult of Cherry postcard, Chantecaille Bengali Tiger powder:
MAC Untamed postcard, Stila Bohemian Beauty paint can, MAC Hot House lip gloss:
I hope you enjoyed it!
I have been so busy! I was so hoping my little museum would not be neglected, but with my wedding 8 weeks away (yikes!) and taking on additional duties at work, things have been quite hectic. Anyway, here's what I was liking this week.
– I'm still enjoying the warm weather and sunshine, but that doesn't stop me from wanting these lovely flannel Louboutin pumps. So perfect for fall.
– Now Smell This talks about a perfume exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art. See, we have perfume exhibitions, now we just need makeup ones.
– City Life Eats shares a delicious recipe for adzuki beans, mango and spinach. Yum!
– My husband-to-be alerted me to this group exercise-meets-performance-art event at the Maryland Art Place. Too bad I wasn't able to go, but it looks like fun. Everybody Suz-ercise!
– BellaSugar takes a look at the history of mascara.
– Cool-looking exhibit on female pop artists at the Brooklyn Museum.
(image from mdartplace.org)
One of my very favorite days of the year, the summer solstice, was yesterday so in honor of that here is the Makeup Museum's summer 2010 exhibition. :)
Main exhibit:
You can't see it too well, but here is the Guerlain Paradise eye shadow palette from last year (along with the Stila Nordstrom Look of the Month July palette):
More details:
Auxiliary hallway exhibit, top and bottom shelves:
Auxiliary exhibit in the home office:
Some details.
I hope you liked it!
I still don't have all the pieces I wanted to put in this year's spring exhibition, but I think it's close enough. I wanted to have the spring display up and running because before you know it Memorial Day (a.k.a. the unofficial start of summer) will be here, and I'll have to start putting together the summer exhibition. Enjoy!
Main exhibition:
Auxiliary hallway exhibition:
Finally, the office auxiliary exhibition:
Things from around the interwebs I liked this week, along with a delicious treat I found at Whole Paycheck (err, I mean Whole Foods):
– Via ArtDaily I learned that not only is there an entire museum devoted to shoes (!! – the Curator's other passion besides makeup) in Toronto, they currently have a fantastic exhibition on European 16th and 17th-century ladies' footwear. How cool is that?!
– BellaSugar has an interesting quiz on how much cosmetics used to cost. I didn't do so well (I only got 2 out of 5 correct, eek!) but I did learn that Ivory Soap used to cost a mere 5 cents back in 1926.
– Bacon and chocolate? I know it seems weird, but I am totally hooked on these Vosges chocolate bars. I'm very sensitive to caffeine, which is unfortunate for a chocoholic (especially one who loves highly caffeinated dark chocolate) but in this case it works in my favor - I can only eat one or two squares at a time so I'm not awake the whole night, which is good since these bars are expensive! But a necessary luxury.
– The planning for our nuptials is coming along nicely, but I have to say it would have been cool to have our celebration at a doughnut shop.
– A big thanks to Britishbeautyblogger for introducing me to the positively adorable cosmetic bags by Kate Garey.
What were you into this week?
(image from batashoemuseum.ca)
The name of this collection immediately got my attention, although upon delving into it I was a bit disappointed. "Dramatic, daring Lashes have been a chic and urbane part of the modern
Artist’s persona since Edie and friends made it all happen Downtown, on
block-print canvas or grainy 16-millimetre film. Multi-media,
counter-culture, the ultimate cool. In The Studio is the epitome of the
look updated, featuring new Studio Fix Lash in Black Fix or Studio
Brown…Go for the bold stroke, as they do In The Studio." I'm not really sure the ad copy makes any sense – they tie big lashes to Edie Sedgwick, which I can sort of understand, but how are they a "chic and urbane part of the modern artist's persona"? I think mostly MAC was grasping at straws and trying to make their most basic products (mascara and foundation) seem more hip and interesting. Nitpicking of their advertising aside, In the Studio reminds me of a very common theme depicted in painting: the artist at work in his/her atelier. The new exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art and School of the Institute of Art (both in Chicago) prove that the depiction of the artist's work space is still just as relevant as it was back in 1855, when Gustave Courbet painted his famous The Artist's Studio (L'Atelier du peintre): A Real Allegory of a Seven Year Phase in my Artistic and Moral Life :
(image from smarthistory.org)
The Musée D'Orsay has an excellent summary of the painting's significance. Looking at this I think MAC could have done a better job in advertisting (even the ad doesn't really show the artist/model at work, per se) and in crafting a more interesting collection, but nevertheless I like that they at least attempted to connect makeup to art.
Welcome to the 2nd holiday exhibition by the Makeup Museum! I actually have a theme this year, which is "Crystal Sparkle" since so many of these holiday items are decked out in crystals. Enjoy!
Main exhibition:
MAC Holidazzle postcard, Stila blush, Chanel Lumières d'Artifices palette:
Stila clutch palette, Armani 2008 crystal palette, YSL Bow Collection palette:
Stila holiday can, Dior Night Diamond palette:
Benefit catalog and Dior Aurore Boreale pendant (I wanted to drape it over the shelf somehow but couldn't figure it out without using thumbtacks, and I didn't want to put holes in the wall. Oh well.)
Guerlain Imperiale Meteorites and Shu Planet Cat palette:
Armani lipstick and Lancôme Sparkling Cherub palette:
Now for the auxiliary exhibition!
Life of the Party Quickie Chronicle by Too-Faced, along with the Armani Black Lace palette:
Benefit holiday catalog and Guerlain Gold Temptation Meteorites:
Tsumori Chisato for Shu poster and Paul & Joe palette (and a little piggy!):
Another auxiliary exhibition:
Finally, if you're still reading, here are a couple bonus pics of all the snow we got here on Saturday. Isn't it pretty?
The Curator wishes everyone a very merry Christmas!
Britishbeautyblogger posted this last week and I definitely had to post about it here as well! Luxe-pack Monaco, an annual showcase of new and innovative packaging, is featuring an exhibit curated by perfume and cosmetics historian Jean Marie Martin-Hattemberg. (Note to Jean-Marie: I'm a cosmetics historian/curator too – can you please explain to me how to parlay this into a real, paying job?!)
Anyway, the Luxe Pack site reads, "Discover how lipsticks and their packaging have been manufactured
over the time. Nowadays seen as a must-have seduction weapon, the
lipstick appeared in self-confident and open-minded women's daily life
in the 20th century… Re-discover the daring and creative power of
brands over time!" Sounds fantastic, no? And according to Premium Beauty News, there will be a book released — not just showcasing the pieces in the exhibtion, but an entire history of lipstick. I for one will be waiting with bated breath for the book to come out, not just because this is something a curator of a makeup museum should by all means have on hand in her library, but to get ideas for my own makeup book. 😉
Here's a pic of the "Couturines" lipsticks that will be on display, which Revlon manufactured between 1961 and 1963. They represent Shirley MacLaine, Marilyn Monroe, and Bette Davis.
image from premiumbeautynews.com
And here's a closeup of Shirley – look at the intricate work on the case as well as the gold detailing towards the base of the lipstick itself. They sure don't make anything like this anymore!
image from luxepack.com
I'd give my eye teeth to fly to Monaco and see this in person, but I guess the book will have to do for now.
MAC released a new collection last week called Baby Bloom, consisting of a new tinted moisturizer and tinted lip balms. Maybe it's just me, but I found the campaign image to be really creepy.
(photo from maccosmetics.com)
Between her eye staring lifeless off into space and the vine wrapped around her neck, it seems like the model is laying dead in a field. And it got me thinking of a piece by Marcel Duchamp - Étant Donnés: 1° la chute d'eau / 2° le gaz d'éclairage, which translates to "Given: 1. The Waterfall, 2. The Illuminating Gas". This work was installed in 1969 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (where, incidentally, the Curator once worked) after Duchamp's death. It is quite possibly the most enigmatic and, in my eyes, scariest piece of modern Western art.
You go up to the door and peer through 2 of the holes in it…
And this is what you see:
(photos from artnet.com)
Pretty eerie. While I don't think Duchamp meant for the piece to be particularly scary, that's always how I perceived it. It's the same with the MAC photo – while trying to come up with an eye-catching ad, the company instead created a fairly disturbing image. Neither shows the woman's face in full; a flower completely obscures the model's eye in the MAC ad, while you only get a glimpse of the woman's hair in Duchamp's work (and trust me as someone who looked at this on a weekly basis – no matter how much you crain your neck, you NEVER see her face.) Regardless of whether you find the images disturbing, both make you wonder why the artist/designer chose to represent what they did.
Anyway, if you're in the Philly area I highly suggest you check out Étant Donnés in person, especially since there will be an exhibition in honor of the 40-year anniversary of its installation starting on August 15.
p.s. For more on this work and others by Duchamp, the following makes for good reading: Duchamp: A Biography by Calvin Tomkins; Étant Donnés by Anne D'Harnoncourt and Walter Hopps; Marcel Duchamp, a collection of essays edited by Anne D'Harnoncourt; and Rudolf Kuenzli's Marcel Duchamp: Artist of the Century.