Born in 1973 out of the vibrant times of Biba and Bowe,
make up brand to the royal and stylish Cosmetic a La Carte celebrated their 40th
birthday with an exhibition titled ‘Colour & Culture’ at the Redchurch
Gallery.
Famed for making cosmetics for the queens facialist to
the first ever foundation for black skin created for Grace Jones, this iconic
brand celebrated its heritage through a tangible mix of art, photography, video
and interactive make up sessions.
The brand showed innovative, imaginative and creative
ways to animate the make up, from the scrapbook wall which intelligently told
you ‘before we had scanners and digital mood boards we got our beautspiration
from cutting out pictures from magazines and sticking them to a wall like this’
you would have never thought…
Sarcasm aside the most striking parts of the exhibition
were undoubtedly the mannequin heads crafted to resemble icons that had
inspired Cosmetic a La Carte. Princess Diana’s loyalty to her go-to lipstick ‘nude
toast’ took the shape of an ice queen sculpture encrusted with rippling waves
of glistening pearls and diamonds, perhaps a nod to her angelic omnipresence.
Cosmetic a La Carte’s achievements have spanned 4
decades, some of the most notable moments being asked by Elizabeth Taylor to
create a pink sugar lip gloss, and perhaps most recently being charged to paint
the modern day Marilyn’s lips the classic red which made the screen siren so
iconic, Michelle Williams in My Week With
Marilyn.
The Cosmetic a La Carte’s 40th anniversary
‘Colour & Culture’ is open from the 21st-26th May at
the Redchurch Gallery, East London.
