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Danny Ghitis for The New York Times
Kenny Scharf in his studio.
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He was hanging out with Chris Salgardo, the president of Kiehl’s, the
New York-based skin care company. “I’m very moisturized,” Mr. Scharf
joked, breathless after a turn on the trapeze.
Nearby was a glossy red teaching skeleton, called Mr. Bones, that he
created for a Kiehl’s charity initiative in May, and a box of labels for
Crème de Corps, one of the company’s most popular products, waiting for
his autograph. The labels bore reproductions of a Scharf artwork,
“Globomundo.”
“This is like Kenny’s funhouse,” said Mr. Salgardo, clad in a plaid
shirt, ripped jeans, black logger boots and clinking chain wallet. “His
work is very uplifting, which makes sense for kids.” The bottles of
lotion, along with a $50 toy called Squirt (a miniature version of Mr.
Bones’s head) will go on sale Monday; profits will benefit RxArt, a
nonprofit organization that installs art exhibitions in health care
institutions.
Fine art may be out of most people’s price range, but increasingly,
artists like Mr. Scharf are collaborating with cosmetics companies on
so-called collectible packaging and products of various affordability.
In 2010 and 2011, Jeff Koons
also teamed with Kiehl’s on a series of Crème de Corps labels, and the
brand financed art by Mr. Koons for a CAT-scan machine at a children’s
hospital in Chicago. Cindy Sherman, Marilyn Minter and Richard Phillips have all designed items in the $20 range for M.A.C.
Dior’s artist edition of the bottle for its J’adore L’absolu scent, made
of Murano glass and designed by Jean-Michel Othoniel with a fine-art
price tag to match ($3,500) will arrive at select Saks Fifth Avenue,
Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman counters in November.
And on Dec. 26, Davis Factor, a great-grandson of Max Factor and a
founder with his brother Dean of the cosmetics company Smashbox, based
in Los Angeles, will introduce a collection of eye shadows, lipsticks
and gloss, blush and a “paint pen” eyeliner named “Love Me,” after the
street artist Curtis Kulig’s signature work.
“I have never seen so much creativity in cosmetics all the way around,”
Mr. Factor said. “I’m seeing cosmetics companies who are more
conservative and normally wouldn’t take chances doing very creative
things.”
For makeup companies, the collaborations are a way to make their
products stand out on an increasingly crowded bathroom shelf. For
artists, they can be an extra source of income. Guillaume Jesel, senior
vice president for M.A.C. Global Marketing, said: “M.A.C. stands for
Makeup Art Cosmetics and has deep ties backstage with fashion, music and
the arts. We actualize these relationships through authentic product
collaborations that follow a short-term licensing model to reveal them
to the public.”
Other than the extra exposure of his work and name, Mr. Scharf said he
wasn’t being compensated by Kiehl’s. “I like to do fun projects,” he
said. “I embrace the mass market. I came across resistance to mass in
the ‘80s and I was surprised, because I thought then that Warhol had
already gotten through it in the ‘60s. Again it seems to be finally
accepted.”
Indeed, the spirit of Warhol, already bottled via perfume in the past,
is alive in the world of color cosmetics. Throughout the fall, NARS is
introducing an extensive makeup collection created with the Andy Warhol
Foundation for the Visual Arts, including the artist’s self-portrait
recreated in an eye shadow palette ($55, available Nov. 1). “There’s an
incredibly strong connection between art and makeup,” said François
Nars, the NARS founder. “Painters paint on canvas or sculpt, but we
paint on millions of faces. I think the face can be a piece of art in a
way.”
Mr. Nars pointed to Warhol’s saturated portraits. “Andy was really a
makeup-obsessed person,” he said, and with lipstick or shadow, “you can
translate on your face your emotions, your sense of color, your sense of
fashion. Cindy Sherman is an incredible example for that.”
Indeed, the body might be the ultimate canvas for some artists
integrating themselves into their work. But Mr. Nars said he is also
inspired by traditional forms, like portrait photography. “I would be
totally lost if I could not photograph,” he said. “I would be a waste.”
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Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
From left: Kiehl Crème de Corps with label by Kenny Scharf; Sephora by Izak; and part of the Smashbox "Love Me" collection, named after Curtis Kulig's signature work. |
Indeed, the body might be the ultimate canvas for some artists
integrating themselves into their work. But Mr. Nars said he is also
inspired by traditional forms, like portrait photography. “I would be
totally lost if I could not photograph,” he said. “I would be a waste.”
He cited several painters as providing inspiration for his colors,
including Picasso and Matisse. He created the matte Outremer eye shadow
($24) based on the famous Yves Klein blue, and the Okinawa eye shadow trio
($45) was a tribute to Mark Rothko. “I have a few Rothko books and I
always look at the combinations that are done in his paintings,” Mr.
Nars said. “They almost look like makeup palettes.”
In the age of Instagram and Pinterest, which has empowered average Janes
to create and trade elaborate images at an extraordinary pace, it makes
sense, perhaps, that the lines between fine art and makeup artistry are
getting smudged.
Consumers should harbor no illusions, though, that makeup with an
artist’s imprimatur is worth saving. “There isn’t an intrinsic idea that
these things will be as valuable in the future as an actual piece of
artwork,” said Susan Brundage, director of the appraisals department at
the Art Dealers Association of America. “It’s in the interest of the
makeup companies themselves. There’s such competition, it’s just another
way to separate yourself from other brands. For collectors, it’s more
for the fun of it. It’s a conversation piece. If it’s a makeup case that
is Warhol-designed, it makes you hip and in the in-crowd, and you’re
not having to spend as much money as someone who buys a Warhol flower
painting for a million dollars.”
Mr. Factor, who said he was strongly influenced by Warhol, said he
thinks the marriage of makeup and art can be attributed to a generation
that came of age during the Pop era. “It’s because you have all these
top cosmetics guys who are in their 50s like me,” he said. “We were all
just old enough to get into Studio 54, but just barely. We were too
young to be truly part of the Warhol movement, but it left this vivid,
lasting impression.”
Large corporations are also getting into the act. Sephora has been
commissioning art for select stores, like E. V. Day’s “Flamenco Tornado”
sculpture in its meatpacking district location. “The consumer is very
inspired by art and driven by a Katy Perry or Lady Gaga or Grimes, who
is the new kid on the block,” said Lina Kutsovskaya, vice president and
executive creative director of the retailer. “With their hair, makeup,
the way they dress, they’re the rule breakers — we like shocking — and
technology has given the underdog these huge platforms. Art has become
an everyday thing.”
The company has introduced a collection with the French illustrator Izak
Zenou and produced a traveling solo show, “New American Beauty,” for
the tattoo artist Kat Von D, beginning at Art Basel Miami last December.
“Because I got famous for the tattoo show, people think that’s all I
do,” said Ms. Von D, who was on the reality show “L.A. Ink” and has
partnered with Sephora on a makeup line since 2008. “It’s just one of my
mediums. My grandma was an oil painter. I’ve been drawing and painting
since I was a kid.”
Ms. Von D pointed out that fine art, commerce and self-adornment have
long been intermingled in culture. “If you look at Salvador Dali, he
made lipstick and furniture and hair accessories and furniture design,”
she said. “I used to be self-conscious because I got so much hate from
tattoo artists, who said I was a sellout. All I’m doing is trying to
create.”
Mr. Scharf, who has two daughters in their 20s and sees “crazy nail art
going on” in their world, has no fear of selling out. “I think I would
be a good makeup artist because when I paint portraits, I think about
shadows and shading and color,” he said.
But in his art?
“Sure, I use makeup in my performances,” he said. “Like I was just in
Rio for an art fair and my character was a caveman and I did these black
teeth. And I had these gorgeous Cariocas and made them all ugly
cavemen. They were all naked and they were sliding around in Jell-O.”
He paused and added, “Well, my idea of beauty is probably not your conventional.”
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