Studio Visit: Preview of MAC’s Fall 2009 Color Collection
By Jessica M and Angie W


The Fall 2009 color collection from MAC is called “Make-Up Art Cosmetics,” and it brings MAC back to its original theme of makeup as a form of creative self-expression. For this collection, MAC collaborated with three artists who take imaginative approaches to beauty in their own art. Thanks to Annie, the two of us were able to attend a special evening celebrating the collection in New York.

Our first destination was a gathering at the artist Marilyn Minter’s studio. Minter’s signature style blurs the line between fine art and advertising. Her bold, close-up photographs of women’s lavishly made-up faces draw out the decadent, messy side of glamour, and her recent video, titled “Green Pink Caviar,” focuses on lipsticked mouths eating candy and other sticky treats.

Minter’s studio, on an upper floor of a classic cast-iron building in SoHo, was crowded with a festive and stylish group of beauty experts and art fans for the MAC event. Waiters in MAC/Minter t-shirts were offering dishes of ice cream with do-it-yourself sprinkles, and the walls were decorated with images from the artist’s recent work. We were able to view the pigments and glitters that MAC developed in cooperation with Minter, and their dazzling, sparkling tones made even more sense when we saw them in the context of the artist’s photographs, paintings, and art supplies.

Our second stop was a pre-war building on a side-street in Greenwich Village. We took the elevator up to the artist Maira Kalman’s apartment and found ourselves in the middle of a chatty, intimate get-together. Kalman’s illustrations have appeared everywhere from children’s books to The New Yorker magazine. She’s known for her quirky wit, her love of everyday things, her affectionate caricatures of her fellow city-dwellers, and her playful, sophisticated use of color.

Just as in Minter’s studio, were able to see Kalman’s personal belongings, well-stocked bookcases, and home décor as sources for her art. We admired her displays of vintage hats and shoes, in particular, and we nibbled hors d’oeuvres that were clever updates on comfort foods, like tiny egg-salad sandwiches and little mac-and-cheese croquettes, paired with refreshing pomegranate mojitos. The waiters at this second event were wearing MAC/Kalman t-shirts, and we really started hoping that all these shirts will be available for purchase along with the makeup! Speaking of the makeup, we had a sneak peek at a range of eye shadows and “Technakohl” liners inspired by Kalman’s work, and we noticed that their bright and pastel shades are similar to the colors she favors in her illustrations.

We were temporarily distracted from our thoughts about makeup and art when we spotted Isaac Mizrahi, an old friend of Maira Kalman, making his way through the room. And if we had attended the third event of the night, a party at the Chelsea studio of painter Richard Phillips, we would have sighted more stars, including designers Gareth Pugh and Erin Featherston, not to mention Ed Westwick from “Gossip Girl.” (Sorry, Annie! We know you love Chuck Bass!) But we needed our beauty sleep in order to get up early for our day-jobs the next morning...oh well! In any case, we’re really looking forward to seeing the whole product line in stores soon.

MAC’s Fall Color Collection, “Make-Up Art Cosmetics,” is scheduled to launch on August 20, 2009 in the USA. You can read more about the collection at http://www.specktra.net/2009/07/14/mac-make-up-art-collection-product-images

Photos by Jessica M.

Kalman illustration from The Elements of Style (Penguin Press, 2005).