Blusher
Art, Makeup, Materiality
Leicester Gallery, at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
July 12th - September 6th 2025
Curated by artist and former makeup artist Cathy Lomax
Makeup is often referred to as an art in glossy magazines and coffee table books. But how does art deal with makeup? The visual, material, and experiential connections, between making-up and artmaking are apparent, but makeup’s connection with femininity problematises it, connecting it to artforms and aesthetics rich in colour and decoration which have historically been considered trivial and unworthy of serious academic interest.
Inspired by the formal transformative qualities of makeup, alongside its hapticity, role in ritual, and position in the commodification and codification of gender identities, Blusher unashamedly foregrounds this versatile medium, with work by artists that showcase makeup’s multifarious meanings in a variety of media.
Featured Artists:
Alexis Soul Gray, Alison Jones, Annabel Dover, Athen and Nina, Caroline Walker, Caroline Zurmely, Cary Kwok, Cathy Lomax, Christine Stewart, Erica Eyres, Eugenia Cuellar, Gemma Browne, Hilde Krohn Huse, Jennifer Caroline Campbell, Jennifer Merrell, Kate Murdoch, Katherine Allen, Lindsey Bull, Lisa Milroy, Lucienne Cole, Madelynn Green, Mary Modha, Matilda Moors, Michael Fullerton, Mo Throp, Paul Kindersley, Rebecca Parkin, Rosemary Cronin, Ruth Heaton, Sally Kindberg, Sarah Doyle, Stacy Greene, Xingxin Hu.
