Her Mind Is Made Up: MUA Alex Box

The rather efficiently titled “The Make-Up Artist“ exhibition, which ends December 22nd, marks make-up artist Alex Box’s first exhibition in London. The show presents an elaborate photo collection which was inspired in collaboration with photographer John Rankin Waddell. The works, which have been published in a book, completely redefine the conventional image of beauty in fashion.

With inspirations ranging from graphics, to old movie posters, calligraphy, tribal masks, tattoos and materials such as pigments and post-its, these images open new, exciting, imaginative doors for beauty photography. The book and exhibition also include photos of models without make-up, before being treated to Alex’s artwork.

She already explored the unconventional use of her skill through experimentation in sculpture and performance during her studies at Chelsea Art School. Her work combines fantasy, fashion, science and illustration. Each creation is an instinctive answer to a moment in which the model and mood become an expression of the many facets of beauty.

Alex is the Art Director of the Illamasqua make-up brand and collaborates with designers including Gareth Pugh and Karl Lagerfeld. Her eye-catching applications regularly feature in Vogue, Numero, i-D, Dazed & Confused, Another Magazine and V.

Alex Box - The Make-up Artist
23 October until 22 December
Annroy Gallery
110-114 Grafton Road, London NW5 4BA
United Kingdom

Rankin’s accompanying book will be published by Turnaround on 22 October (£50, ISBN-13: 9780956315502).