Exhibition review, Alex Box Make; Up Artist and articles

Alex Box; Make Up Artist
On Wednesday 4th November I attended an exhibition called Alex Box; Make Up Artist in Kentish town. I had read a short summary of what the exhibition was about and saw a couple of images but was still unsure of what to expect.
I decided to attend this exhibition after seeing some images of Box’s works. I also thought it related well to the theme of my project as the use of bright colours and unique patterns on the models faces were animalistic and also distorted the human form which was also another aspect that I was interested in. The type of artist was also an important quality to me and so I wanted to see an exhibition featuring an artist that was different and experimental. The gallery space contained some of Box’s greatest works and was an exhibition featuring only the single artist; making Box’s work the main focus of the exhibition.
“Each creation is an instinctive response to the moment, the model and the mood to form a moving expression of the many faces of beauty.”
There was no particular theme of the exhibition and I was quite fond of the fact that the range of work was not limited and all unrelated, creating a wide range of varied works. Personally I felt that not having boundaries or themes meant that the work was more free and that each piece had an individual meaning, a different quality from the other works; unique. My initial reaction to the exhibition was different to what I had imagined it to be. The gallery space was incredibly blank; white and sparse, yet at the same time it was a very small. There was a small collection of large photo’s of Box’s works which were placed far apart and some high up on the walls. However the audience was still able to engage with the works as the space was intimate and rather small.
“Her collaboration with Rankin who shot the images for the book, and her work for designers including Gareth Pugh and Karl Lagerfeld, creates a powerful fusion of art and performance with fashion.”
I had bought the book at the gallery and I was astonished to discover that Box had worked with so many famous designers and for many catwalks, she is not only a make up artist but also projects “a powerful fusion of art and performance with fashion” through her works; she is definitely someone to aspire to as she is a successful and a unique artist. The exhibition definitely made a lasting impression on me as I had never seen anything quite like it and was a whole new experience that I have gained all together.
The piece that I chose to base my gallery sheet on is made up of a combination of blues and pinks that are painted onto the face in intricate patterns and shapes. The main reason I chose this piece is because I was amazed by the detail and the thought of how long it must have taken to create. I was almost instantly drawn to the piece as the beautiful, complex patterns stood out to me as soon as I entered the exhibition. I interpret the piece as having a strong connection to reptile skin as the use of bright colours and the composition of the patterns frame the face and create an illusion of being a part of the skin. The detail in the patterns also look like they could be scales as each segment is close together and uses a lot of shapes that are similar to reptile scales. I knew that this piece was the right selection for my gallery sheet as all the qualities of it contributes and relates to my work and I am particularly drawn to the use of patterns that are placed only in certain areas of the face to create the right effect.
The piece and the exhibition itself has given me inspiration and has also made an impression on me and as from now, I am considering using similar patterns in my future work and also to perhaps create make up designs which I can then take photographs from as part of my selection of own photo’s using artist influence.

Articles
Alex Box (Short article from SHOWstudio)
Make-up Artist
A Fine Art graduate from Chelsea College of Art, Box exhibited installation art at her degree show which explored the relationship between the body and enviroment. Her career as a make-up artist has developed this relationship through the correlation between art, science, nature and the magical. Box's work has featured in a variety of publications including Vogue, Numéro, W, Another Magazine, Dazed & Confused and i-D and has worked wth designers such as Peter Jensen.

Dazed digital.com The dust may have barely settled on his Rankin Live exhibition but Thursday saw Rankin host the launch party for Alex Box by Rankin, a wildly colourful collaboration with the conceptual make-up artist Alex Box.

Throngs of people made their way through the back streets of Kentish Town to converge on Rankin's stylish new Annroy studio and gallery space. Guests included Erin O'Connor, Gareth Pugh, Amy Molyneaux, Jefferson Hack and Anouck Lepere, and the party rocked well into the night.

Box is a graduate of Chelsea College of Art and has worked with designers such as Gareth Pugh and Karl Lagerfeld. This is the first extensive collection and exhibition of her work, which employs various different mediums to merge fantasy, fashion, science and illustration. In this unique collaboration with Rankin she has created a powerful, visually stunning series of images that push the conventional boundaries of her discipline.
Annroy Presents Alex Box Exhibition
(Daily News on www.designtaxi.com)
30 Sep 2009
In the first ever extensive collection and exhibition of her work Alex Box gives full access to images which radically unsettle and deconstruct conventional images of beauty in fashion. Using everything from pigment to post it's to magically transform her models Alex opens up the human form to a fantastical and expressive range of new possibilities.

Her unconventional approach to make-up emerged from her Chelsea art school experimentations in sculpture and performance, Alex Box’s mature work uniquely merges fantasy, fashion, science and illustration. Almost anthropological in her exploration of the face, Alex liberates each image from the constraints of reality in arresting images which are colorful, humorous and sometimes disturbing.

Hosted at Annroy, Rankin’s new Kentish Town gallery space, the exhibition moves from dark Berlin cabaret to kaleidoscopic clown. Each creation is an instinctive response to the moment, the model and the mood to form a moving expression of the many faces of beauty.