‘Masquerade, Make-up & Ensor’ at MoMu celebrates the artistry of Pat McGrath, Cindy Sherman and extra

‘Masquerade, Make-Up & Ensor’, a brand new exhibition at MoMu in Antwerp, examines the correlation between James Ensor and up to date artistic figures. A founding member of the avant-garde group Les XX, Ensor is championed as one in every of Belgium’s nice proto-modernist artists.

All through his observe, ‘the masks’ was a recurring motif, usually referencing the make-up tendencies of the late 18th and early nineteenth centuries. As artwork historian Susan M Canning observes of the painter and printmaker’s work, ‘masking, make-up and preparations of masks […] promote the disruptive and transgressive subterfuge of artifice’.

Inside ‘Masquerade, Make-Up & Ensor’ at MoMu – Trend Museum Antwerp

‘Ensor was an ideal solution to function make-up and hairstylists in MoMu for the primary time,’ says Elisa De Wyngaert, who co-curated the present with Kaat Debo and Romy Cockx. ‘But additionally a solution to talk about magnificence beliefs and all the pieces surrounding the style business.’

Additionally central to the exhibition’s genesis had been three factors of exploration that De Wyngaert, Debo and Cockx wished to focus on: Why will we put on masks? Why are individuals so afraid of seen ageing? How will we take care of beliefs of magnificence which can be all the time altering and are not possible to attain?

The multimedia works on show span work, pictures, scrapbooks, mannequins, movies and extra. A small sequence of work by Ensor marks the beginning of the exhibition, adopted by self-portraits of mammoth proportions by Issy Wooden, highlighting the painter’s discomfort with being photographed. Elsewhere, Genieve Figgis’ ‘grotesque and exquisite’ characters dangle on canvases towards the backdrop of lilac curtains embellished with big bows (a spotlight of Janina Pedan’s exhibition design).

American photographer Bruce Gilden’s disarming close-ups of his topics are mirrored in a collection of Cindy Sherman’s Head Pictures sequence, whereas artist Tschabalala Self explores the thought of persona and politics. ‘A number of the time magnificence beliefs mirror the politics you wish to align your self with,’ she considers on a close-by wall panel. ‘Individuals usually underestimate the political side of magnificence.’

From the worlds of style and popular culture, Pat McGrath’s viral ‘porcelain doll’ make-up, conceived for John Galliano’s Maison Margiela 2024 Spring Summer season Artisanal assortment is offered with One other Galliano fixture, the ‘Rosalie’ doll. The latter may be present in an area devoted to the grasp of hair Julien d’Ys, in addition to a cloud-like sculpture he created for Wallpaper* in 2022. Objects from Rihanna’s Fenty line and Martin Parr’s 2019 magnificence marketing campaign for Gucci each make cameos.

Maybe essentially the most important, nevertheless, is the contribution of make-up artist Inge Grognard. Right here, the appears to be like she created for Maison Martin Margiela between 1988 and 2008 are proven virtually like posters, the respective merchandise used to create them hanging in sandwich luggage under, whereas a video of Grognard right this moment concludes the exhibition. ‘The movie could be very particular; you don’t usually hear the voice of make-up artists,’ notes De Wyngaert.

‘I’m nonetheless flabbergasted by the quantity of analysis [hair and make-up artists do]; they’re true painters of style, the best way they draw, the preparations,’ she continues. ‘True artists simply working in a special medium. I didn’t assume make-up was superficial [before], however the high quality of the work, the reflection and depth, is one thing I’m simply shocked by.’

For Cockx, whose focus was particular to the work and social panorama of Ensor, shock was reserved for the language – and attitudes – surrounding make-up utility. ‘What actually struck me was, when wanting on the style magazines from the nineteenth century, they actually examine make-up to making use of paint [on a canvas],’ she provides.