Book n°1

BOOK N째1

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POLISH: WHY DO WE NEED SUCH A SHINY WORLD?

BOOK N°1

“Style should be like a clear varnish: it shouldn’t alter the colors, facts or thoughts to which it is applied.”

Stendhal, Mélanges de littérature.

James Day, Red Panton Junior Chair, Vitra www.jamesdayphoto.com Contact: caro@jamesdayphoto.com James Day’s agent: Maureen Sale www.maureensale.com Contact: contact@maureensale.com

All the artists mentioned are on The Red List. We have included all the references to their works and their contact information in line with The Red List’s commitments: to provide visual inspiration without making any profit. Anyone who wants to extend these visions commercially can do so through our references. Our aim is to open up different avenues to explore new links with contemporary creativity.

CONTENTS /6 /40 /58 /78

Deciphering References Stories About us

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THE NATURAL WORLD IS MATT. BUT WE WANT TO MAKE IT SHINE, GIVE IT GLOSS, BUFF IT UP AND MAKE IT SPARKLE, ADD A POLISH. BECAUSE SHINY THINGS REFLECT MOVEMENT AND LIFE. TAKE WOMEN’S HANDS FOR EXAMPLE: TEMPTING AND

POLISHED, FLIRTATIOUS AND DEFENSIVE. STRIPPED OF ANY INNOCENCE RIGHT DOWN TO THE HANDS OF TODAY’S LITTLE GIRLS. SO WHAT IS HIDING BEHIND A SIMPLE COAT OF NAIL POLISH? THE RED LIST INVESTIGATES…

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DECIPHERING

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Deciphering /8

BEING SEEN

Jeff Koons, Sacred Heart, 1994-2007, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. www.jeffkoons.com Gagosian Gallery Contact: newyork@gagosian.com

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Deciphering

1. Caravaggio, Narcissus, oil on canvas, 110 x 92 cm, 1591-92, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome 2. Anish Kapoor, Tall Tree and the Eye, 2009 www.anishkapoor.com Contact: info@kapoorstudio.com Lisson Gallery Contact: contact@lissongallery.com

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CREATING A REFLECTION

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What does legend say? “Narcissus will live a long life, but beware that he does not set eyes upon his own reflection,” warned the wise man to the young Narcissus’ mother. The nymph Echo fell in love with Narcissus, but because she could only repeat the last word she had heard, she was unable to express her love to him.

And because she couldn’t speak to him, she wanted to touch him. After he rejected her, she died. And from then on, Narcissus thought himself unworthy of being loved and unable to love. But then he came across a pool of pure, clear water and stopped to drink.

When he saw his reflection, he was captivated by his own beauty.

Unsuspecting, he fell in love with himself, becoming both lover and object of affection.

He tried helplessly to embrace the beautiful person he saw in the water and, unable to satisfy his love, he wasted away and died.

His body was transformed into a narcissus, the flower that bears his name.

Polishing is about creating the possibility for a reflection. The reflection becomes a mirror in which one can see one’s self if one looks.

The myth of Narcissus reminds us that we need reflections. Mirrors didn’t exist until the 17th century. That simple object we use to look at ourselves is not actually as simple as it seems.

Deciphering

TOO MANY REFLECTIONS In his essay entitled “The Double,” Otto Rank describes a court case in London in 1913 in which a young Lord who had been cheated on by his mistress locked the unfaithful woman in a room lined with mirrors for a week so that she could contemplate herself and mend her ways.

The young woman could not bear this confrontation with her own tormenting gaze and went mad, desire thus being

1. Rita Hayworth on the shoot of The Lady from Shanghai, 1947 © Columbia Pictures www.imdb.com/name/nm0000028 2. Phillip Toledano www.mrtoledano.com Contact: phil@mrtoledano.com

transformed into guilt and repulsion.

WOMEN WITHOUT REFLECTION The absence of reflection - or the ultimate loss creates an unquantifiable sense of anxiety.

Remember the queen’s fury in Snow White when the mirror stops telling her what she wants to hear. Mirror, mirror, on the wall…

Or Gloria Swanson’s grimace as the fading star in Sunset Boulevard.

It is as if losing one’s reflection threatens the very core of one’s femininity. How many times does a women glance at her reflection in a mirror every day?

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Deciphering

IT IS AS IF LOSING ONE’S REFLECTION THREATENS THE VERY CORE OF ONE’S FEMININITY.

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1. Miles Aldridge, Vogue Italy, September 2010 www.milesaldridge.com Contact: studio@milesaldridge.com Miles Aldridge’s agent: D & V Management www.dandvmanagement.com Contact: nathalie@dandvmanagement.com 2. Greta Garbo by Douglas Gordon, Mirror Blind, 2002 Gagosian Gallery Contact: london@gagosian.com

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Deciphering /16

SEDUCING

Keira Knightley by Mario Testino Vogue UK, January 2011 Keira Knightley’s agent: Lindy King Contact: jcharteris@unitedagents.co.uk www.mariotestino.com Mario Testino’s agent: Art Partner www.artpartner.com Contact: brigitte@artpartner.com

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Deciphering

James Mason and Sue Lyon in Lolita, 1962, by Stanley Kubrick www.imdb.com/name/nm0000040

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POLISHING ONE’S BODY Is there anything more erotic than the opening credits of Kubrick’s Lolita (1962), in which a man’s hand paints the toenails of a young girl?

Slowly and methodically, he places a piece of cotton wool between each toe, and paints each nail with a coat of polish the color of which we cannot be sure because the film is in black and white, but which we suspect is a reddish pink.

And each time he paints a new toe, it is as if he undresses the girl a little more - the scene is a kind of reverse strip tease.

Fifty years later, the effect is equally disturbing.

The tone is set - the polish makes a new erogenous zone on each nail.

Deciphering

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FROM HANDS TO LIPS. NAILS AND LIPS ARE OFTEN ASSOCIATED, LIKE THE TWO PAINTED PARTS OF A WOMAN, LIKE THINGS THAT MATCH AND ECHO. YET MORE PROOF THAT THE FINGERNAILS ARE A PART OF A WOMAN’S EROTIC BODY, LIKE MILESTONES ON A PATH LEADING TO HER MOUTH. Nails are to hands what teeth are to lips - tools for taking a bite out of the world, for eating it, for attacking it.

Hard, white tools that can be decorated but which remain dangerous, wounding and sharp.

Ben Hasset, Vogue Germany, November 2007 www.benhassett.com Contact: studio@benhassett.com Ben Hasset’s agent: Art + Commerce www.artandcommerce.com Contact: artists@artandcommerce.com

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Deciphering

1. Mario Testino, Aphrodisiac I, Berlin, 2008 www.mariotestino.com Mario Testino’s agent: Art Partner www.artpartner.com Contact: brigitte@artpartner.com 2. John Rawlings, Vogue US, 1950 www.vogue.com/archive

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EROS AND THANATOS

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A woman’s red fingernails perfectly illustrate the absolutely inextricable relationship between Eros and Thanatos, love and death, sexual drive and death force. A measure of beauty, seduction and pleasure, the nail polish is like a threat, a tough, clawed hand, the blood that is ready to flow.

Tertullian was similarly scandalized: “If the mirror already had license to lie so much, and if Eve had invented all that, it is once expelled from Paradise and already dead.

Eve with her face painted presented a mask of disloyalty. Because this panoply of corsets, straightjackets and wigs, this cunning strategy that adulterates God’s word and reveals its great maneuvers in front of the mirror, has only one goal - to ensnare man in the beauty trap.”

And again, “Woman only act when driven by the mirror. There is no greater joy for them than getting dressed up. That is why they have an advisor, called the mirror, who teaches them to adjust their veils, daub their mouths, look straight ahead and to the side, to move their neck, laugh and joke, walk and stand still.”

Blood of death but also blood of life. Red nail polish is a way of showing what runs inside the body and what must not be seen, a way of bringing a woman’s blood to the surface, by making it more beautiful, polished and solid.

Deciphering

AN INTERMITTENT FASHION Fashion varies, depending on whether one is talking about before the 1950s or after.

In the ’30s and ’40s, actresses were happy to wear colored nail polish.

But perhaps not the ones you might have thought. In fact, the most iconic stars for the most part only wore neutral polish, the sign of a finishing touch.

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1. Marlene Dietrich by Nickolas Murray, 1935 www.imdb.com/name/nm0000017 www.nickolasmuray.com 2. Scarlett Johansson by Solve Sundsbo, advertisement for Dolce & Gabbana Scarlett Johansson’s agent: Scott Lambert Solve Sundsbo’s agent: Art and Commerce www.artandcommerce.com Contact: info@artandcommerce.com

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3.Georgia May Jagger by Mario Testino, Vogue UK, novembre 2009 Georgia May Jagger’s agent: TESS Management www.tessmanagement.com www.mariotestino.com Contact: info@mariotestino.com Mario Testino’s agent: Art Partner www.artpartner.com Contact: brigitte@artpartner.com

4. Alexey Brodovitch, cover Harper's Bazaar, October 1947 www.harpersbazaar.com 5. Marilyn Monroe by Alfred Eisenstaedt, www.imdb.com/name/nm0000054 Richard Moore Gallery Contact: info@richardmoorephoto.com 6. Loretta Young www.imdb.com/name/nm0949835 7. Joan Crawford by George Hurrell, for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1930. www.imdb.com/name/nm0001076 www.hurrellphotography.com 8. Donyale Luna by David Bailey, Vogue UK, 1996 David Bailey’s agent: Visual Artists Uk www.visualartistsuk.com Contact: matt@visualartistsuk.com 9. Brigitte Bardot, "Voulez-Vous Danser Avec Moi?", 1959,

by Sam Lévin. www.imdb.com/name/nm0000003

10. Kate Moss by Mario Testino, Kate Moss’s agent: IMG NY www.imgmodels.com www.mariotestino.com Contact: info@mariotestino.com Mario Testino’s agent: Art Partner www.artpartner.com Contact: brigitte@artpartner.com 11. Natalie Portman by David Slijper, Elle UK, February 2010 Natalie Portman’s agent: Bryan Lourd www.davidslijper.com Contact: studio@davidslijper.com 12. Angelina Jolie by Patrick Demarchelier, Vanity Fair US, October 2008 Angelina Jolie’s agent: United Talent Agency www.unitedtalent.com Patrick Demarchelier’s agent: Angela De Bona www.angeladebona.com www.demarchelier.net Contact: angela.de-bona@wanadoo.fr 13. Sophia Loren Manager: Leonard Hirshan www.imdb.com/name/nm0000047

Deciphering

1. Catherine Deneuve by Jean-Loup Sieff, Catherine Deneuve’s agent: Artmedia www.artmedia.fr www.imdb.com/name/nm0000366 www.jeanloupsieff.com Contact: contact@jeanloupsieff.com 2. Alex Cayley, Alex Cayley’s agent: Chris Boals Artists www.chrisboalsartists.com Contact: agency@chrisboalartists.com

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MADONNAS The French polish celebrates an extreme whiteness, like teeth that are whiter than white with a pearly touch. But the ultimate chic is to wear colorless polish to reveal one’s inner purity.

Clear polish is the polish of stars, of those who don’t need to add anything and who want to regain their virginity at the tips of their fingers. Madonna hands for the most sensual women in the world. No nail polish for the bride in white.

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Deciphering

THE INNOCENCE OF THE SCHOOLGIRL. IN THE PAST, PAINTING A LITTLE GIRL’S FINGERNAILS WAS A SIGN OF TRANSGRESSION, SHAMELESSNESS EVEN. WORSE STILL WAS BADLY-APPLIED OR CHIPPED POLISH. But times change - little girls don’t just go to school with their nails painted and it doesn’t bother anyone, /28

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but they can also sport chipped nail polish without embarrassment. The nail polish no longer makes the woman. It has become excessively accessorized; just one embellishment among others. It matches one’s outfit and adds a touch of eccentricity when everything else remains classical. Schoolgirls can paint their nails without being accused of indecency and can think of this addition as an ephemeral piece of jewelry, a simple accessory, a dash of color.

Is it because nail polish has lost its monopoly?

The modern history of nail polish is one of commonplace adoption, in every place and for every age. It has lost its sophistication. It is less controversial, less sexual. Nail polish is now more Kate Bellm, Annaleise, London www.katebellm.com Contact: info@katebellm.com

appealing. But beware the poisoned apple - what poison might be hidden under this veneer?

Deciphering /30

FLOW

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Raymond Meier, www.raymondmeier.com Contact: studio@raymondmeier.com

Deciphering

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ORGANIC OBJECTS

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Applying nail polish is about smoothing the contours, making them disappear and creating the illusion of something seamless with no apparent joins.

An object in one piece, in one splash, like a puddle in which one is reflected. But although nail polish makes one think of a puddle, it is because the solid makes one imagine the liquid that governs it, and which is always threatening to spill, which gives the whole an organic dimension. In other words, it is solidified liquid and not an object made up from its parts. It is about starting from extreme sophistication – the malleable material, and giving the illusion of something extremely natural - the organic object.

1. Christine Coste, Rouge exhibition, Galerie Collection, 2012 www.christinecoste.fr Contact: coste@prolongement.com 2. Apple advertisement for iPod nano chromatic 3. Los Carpinteros, Quartet, 2011, Museum of Contemporary Art, Montreal www.loscarpinteros.net Galeria Fortes Vilaça Contact: galeria@fortesvilaca.com.br

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Deciphering

Walead Beshty, Four Magnets, Three Colors Curl, 2010.

Thomas Dane Gallery Contact: info@thomasdane.com

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THE INFINITE The color ranges grow, the palette of shades continues into infinity, as if infinity were within reach.

Nail polish adopts the color-block. In the past, it used to match the lipstick and was confined to shades of red and orange. Nowadays, nail polish dips its brush into cold shades of turquoise, green, violet and bright yellow, as well as those very contemporary tints of gray and taupe among others. Remember the Rubik’s Cube in the 1980s with its six trillion combinations? Despite its primary colors, one couldn’t play with it without imagining all the shades that would flow would if it were composed of real pigments.

Deciphering

Miles Aldridge, Vogue Italy, March 2008 www.milesaldridge.com Miles Aldridge’s agent: D & V Management Contact: nathalie@dandvmanagement.com www.dandvmanagement.com Contact: studio@milesaldridge.com

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MOUTHWATERING PIGMENTS A carnivorous reflex as an attempt to dominate the infinite – combine the colors and swallow them whole.

Eat pigment, take it into the body. Just like great dishes of confectionery, the colored body is for tasting; just one temptation among many.

Deciphering

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THE FINGERNAILS HAVE BEEN TRIMMED, INFINITE COLORS ARE AVAILABLE AND THE AGE OF NAIL POLISH CONSENT HAS BEEN LOWERED. THE STORY OF NAIL POLISH IS ABOUT BECOMING BETTER BEHAVED: making women’s hands more innocent and freeing them of images and inhibitions so that they consume color above anything else.

Sophie Chudzikowski by Susanne Spiel Sophie Chudzikowski’s agent: D The Agency www.dtheagency.com www.susannespiel.com Contact: susanne@susannespiel.com

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REFERENCES

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TWO STATES OF PIGMENT

THE OUTBREAK OF DANGER

ANOTHER AGE OF GLAMOUR

THE ORGANIC ILLUSION

THE END OF ABSOLUTE RED

A CHILDLIKE FEMININITY

CREATING ENDLESS APPETITE

References

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Giorgio Z Gatti www.giorgiozgatti.com Contact: info@giorgiozgatti.com

James Day, Yellow Panton Junior Chair, www.jamesdayphoto.com Contact: caro@jamesdayphoto.com James Day’s agent: Maureen Sale www.maureensale.com Contact: contact@maureensale.com

Alix Malka Agent: 1+1 mgmt www.1plus1mgmt.com Contact: marco@1plus1mgmt.com

John Rankin rankin.co.uk Contact: info@rankin.co.uk

Yayoi Kusama, Dots Obsession, New Century, installation, 2000 www.yayoi-kusama.jp

Alexander Straulino Studiostraulino, Berlin, Allemagne. www.studiostraulino.com Contact : contact@straulino.com Agent d’Alexander Straulino : Julian Meijer www.julianmeijer.com Contact : julian@julianmeijer.com

Kimiko Yoshida, The Shinto Bride self-portrait, 2002. k@kimiko.fr www.kimiko.fr

Marloes Horst by Miles Aldridge, Vogue Russia, June/July 2010 www.milesaldridge.com Contact: studio@milesaldridge.com Miles Aldridge’s agent: D & V Management www.dandvmanagement.com Contact: nathalie@dandvmanagement.com

Matthew Donaldson Still Life Photography www.matthewdonaldson.com Contact: studio@matthewdonaldson.com

Kate Bellm Petra at home, Paris www.katebellm.com Contact: info@katebellm.com

John Rankin rankin.co.uk Contact: info@rankin.co.uk

Alexander Straulino, Nails, 1996.

Studiostraulino, Berlin, Germany. www.studiostraulino.com Contact: contact@straulino.com Alexander Straulino’s agent: Julian Meijer www.julianmeijer.com Contact: julian@julianmeijer.com

Gene Tierney 1951 www.imdb.fr/name/nm0000074

Valerie Phillips www.valeriephillips.com

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STORIES

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Stories

1. Essie nail polish

BOTTLES

2. Alix Malka Agence: 1+1 mgmt www.1plus1mgmt.com Contact: marco@1plus1mgmt.com

Square, compact bottles that provide a stark contrast to the curved, ample shapes of bottles of the past.

These new shapes reflect the style of contemporary nails while their ’50s and ’60s counterparts were like the longer nails of the past.

Nail length corresponds to the changing shape of women, as we become more suited to a busy life, less decorative and less steamy, too.

More shaped, the nails of today have something masculine, even infantile about them.

3. Catherine Deneuve Catherine Deneuve’s agent: Artmedia www.artmedia.fr www.imdb.com/name/nm0000366

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DENEUVE COLOR-BLOCK Nail polish is one of the accessories that makeup the Color-Block attitude. Big blocks of bright colors applied to one’s own body, an alliance of bold, strong tones. Think of the Color-Block as a guerilla against the gloom 2.

to accentuate fashion and whip it up, nail polish as an accessory to combat recession, a delicious candy whose price ranges from three to just over twenty euros.

AS A YOUNG WOMAN, SHE RARELY WORE IT IN HER FILMS, BUT AS A MORE MATURE WOMAN, SHE’S HAPPY TO WEAR IT BUT ALWAYS OFF CAMERA. WHY? BECAUSE DENEUVE LOVES TO ADOPT WHAT MAKES A WOMAN LIKE ANY OTHER A CIGARETTE, A GOOD MEAL ETC. A CHIC SEX SYMBOL, SHE’S NOT AFRAID TO GO A LITTLE OVER THE TOP AND ADD A BRIGHT RED TO HER BLOND HAIR, LIKE LANA TURNER IN HER DAY.

Stories 1. Guy Bourdin © The Guy Bourdin Estate, www.guybourdin.org Contact: soontocome@guybourdin.org 2. Fontainebleau School (anonymous), Gabrielle d'Estrées and her sister, the Duchess of Villarsau in the bath, 1595, Louvre Museum, Paris

HARMONY

3. Tippi Hedren in The Birds,

by Alfred Hitchcock, 1963 www.imdb.com/name/nm0000033

NAIL POLISH IS THE ULTIMATE MATCH-ABLE PRODUCT. WITH THE LIPS, WITH THE OUTFIT. IT IS THE SYMBOL OF A HARMONY THAT IS EASY TO COMPOSE, GIVING IT A HIGH EUPHORIC RATIO. THAT WAS ITS ORIGINAL VOCATION – AS A COMPLEMENT TO LIPSTICK.

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HISTORY

Painting one’s nails can be traced back to ancient China and Japan.

The Egyptians colored theirs with henna. France discovered makeup colors imported from the Orient during the reign of Catherine de Medicis in the 16th century, from which point onwards,

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the French Court colored eyelashes and brows with antimony, and lips, nails and cheeks with vermilion. They even added color to their nipples, but more translucent tones were favored.

HITCHCOCK Hitch’s heroines never wore nail polish, with the exception of one - Tippi Hedren in The Birds. Why? To confuse Melanie Daniels with the other clawed creatures? Or to give her something with which to defend herself? All of Hitchcock’s other blonds either wore gloves or transparent polish - just like Marnie, they hated the color red.

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Stories

MARILYN WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SOME PHOTOGRAPHS BY MILTON H. GREENE, MARILYN ALMOST NEVER WORE COLORED NAIL POLISH. A SEX SYMBOL SUCH AS SHE HAD NO NEED TO ACCUMULATE SIGNS OF SENSUALITY AND SEDUCTION – HER NATURAL ASSETS WERE MORE THAN ENOUGH. PERHAPS ON PURPOSE, ONE OF MILTON H. GREENE’S PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWS HER LIKE A LITTLE GIRL, IN DISGUISE AND WEARING MAKEUP, BORROWING HER MOTHER’S ACCESSORIES.

KETCHUP Bottles of color, sweetened blood; ketchup is more than just a simple condiment. A symbol of infantile America, it is there somewhere in the nail polish galaxy 1.

like a shameful background or potential destiny.

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LOUBOUTIN When he received his very first shoes made up from his designs in 1991, Christian Louboutin was offended by the black sole he thought was killing his work.

His assistant was painting her nails red so he borrowed her polish and started painting the sole of his shoes and the legendary Louboutin red sole was born. (Pantone code n°18.1663TP or “Chinese Red”) Facing the ground, each step reveals it like a wink, or a subliminal image. The shoemaker even inspired the “Louboutin manicure” black nails that are red underneath.

1. James Day, Tomato Ketchup www.jamesdayphoto.com Contact: caro@jamesdayphoto.com James Day’s agent : Siobhan Squire www.siobhansquire.com Contact: siobhan@siobhansquire.com 2. Christian Louboutin shoes www.christianlouboutin.com

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3. Marilyn Monroe by Milton H. Greene, 1954. www.imdb.com/name/nm0000054 www.archivesmhg.com Contact: prints@archiveimages.com

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Stories

NAIL BAR INSPIRED BY THE NAIL BARS OF NEW YORK, THIS CONCEPT IS FLOURISHING AROUND THE WORLD. IN NAIL BARS, POLISH IS CONSUMED LIKE COCKTAILS, QUICK AND CHEAP. IT’S THE 2010 WAY OF TRANSFORMING SOMETHING EXTREMELY SOPHISTICATED INTO SOMETHING INNOCENTLY ENJOYED AND ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE AND ALL THE TIME.

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NAMES

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Blue Rebel, Rouge Sublime, Particulière, Ballerina, Orange Fizz, Lotus Rouge, Black Pearl, Ocean Dip, Rouge Altesse, Montaigne… A very recognizable set of names which, granted, pays homage to color as in any range, but which also indicates a mood, a way of life, a state of mind, or an aspiration - Rebel or Ballerina - that Proust wouldn’t have shunned.

1. James Wojcik www.jameswojcik.com Agent: Art Department Contact: patricko@art-dept.com

2. Kanji Ishii www.kistudio.info Contact: contact@kistudio.info Kanji Ishii’s agent: LT2 www.lt2.fr Contact: info@lt2.fr

Stories

1. Carl Kleiner, Panther Painting, for Dansk Magazine, 2011 www.carlkleiner.com Contact: mail@carlkleiner.com

ORGANIC PIGMENTS

2. Kate Bellm, War in Colors and by Skateboard, 2011 www.katebellm.com Contact: info@katebellm.com

Usually, a pigment is used to cover an object until that object produces pigment itself, as if every natural or man-made material holds its own juice within, an organic liquid that is neither a symbol of death nor a sign of deterioration. One can always dream… Nail polish, where blood meets an organic pigment that speaks

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to us neither of life nor death.

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POWDER

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A woman’s lips, nails, hair and clothes must all shine, but her skin, never. In this way, nail polish is in conflict with powder. But what is powder?

It is dry pigment that sponges and camouflages bodily secretions instead of celebrating them as nail polish does. And yet when powder comes out of the boudoir, it is to accompany carnival explosions or cannon fire. Always ambivalent and always contradictory; a turquoise death like in Kate Bellm’s images.

Stories 1. Johannes Vermeer, The Girl with the Red Hat, c. 1666-1668, 23 x 18 cm.

National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

RED SPLASHES

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2. Sofia Sanchez and Mauro Mongiello www.sofiamauro.com Contact: sofiamauro@gmail.com Sofia Sanchez and Mauro Mongiello’s agent: Stink Paris Contact Sylvaine Mella: sylvaine@stink.tv

CLASSICAL PAINTERS DID IT, PUTTING A SPLASH OF RED IN THE CENTER OF A CANVAS, DRAWING IN THE EYE - VERMEER, REMBRANDT AND VAN DONGEN AMONG THEM. AND THIS TREND CAN ALSO BE FOUND WITH CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS. THE EYE IS DRAWN IN, BUT IT IS AS IF ART IS STILL SEARCHING FOR THAT LITTLE DROPLET OF BLOOD…

3. Robert Longo, Installation, Berardo Museum, Lisbon, Portugal, 2010 robertlongostudio@gmail.com www.robertlongo.com 4. Sofia Sanchez and Mauro Mongiello Numéro, September 2005, Russian Doll. www.sofiamauro.com Contact: sofiamauro@gmail.com Sofia Sanchez and Mauro Mongiello’s agent: Stink Paris Contact Sylvaine Mella: sylvaine@stink.tv 5. Kees van Dongen, The Poppy, 1919, oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 6. Kanji Ishii www.kistudio.info Contact: contact@kistudio.info Kanki Ishii’s agent: LT2 www.lt2.fr Contact: info@lt2.fr

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Stories

RANGES

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AS IS THEIR WONT, THE MAJOR FASHION HOUSES CULTIVATE THEIR COLORS WITHOUT LOSING SIGHT OF THE RARITY OF COUTURE. CHANEL OFFERS 27 COLORS; DIOR, 21 SHADES AND YSL, 27.

MORE POPULAR BRANDS LIKE REVLON, OPI AND ESSIE OFFER MUCH FULLER RANGES WITH OVER 200 COLORS.

1. Advertisements for L’Oréal Paris and Dior 2. Guy Bourdin Vogue France, 1980. www.guybourdin.org Contact: soontocome@guyboudrin.org 3. Dorian Leigh by Richard Avedon, advertisement for Revlon, 1932. www.imdb.fr/name/nm0500157 www.richardavedon.com Contact: info@avedonfoundation.org

RED Why is red the essential nail polish color?

No doubt due to the desire to match one’s nails to one’s lips, but perhaps also because red is the color of blood.

Blood flows beneath the skin and women’s makeup has always played with the idea 2.

of bringing it to the surface, to reveal the hidden and to suggest at what lies beneath the veil. Red like a mouth, red like passion, red like blood, red like an apple, the forbidden fruit.

REVLON The composition of car paint was the inspiration for nail polish producers in the 1930s.

And Michelle Ménard in particular, a French makeup artist who worked for Charles Revson who joined forces with a chemist named Lachman to found the Revlon company.

In 1932, Revlon launched the first nail polish.

The rapid uptake of domestic appliances meant that women wanted to take more care of their hands. Products were initially sold in beauty parlors and hairdressing salons but from 1937 onwards, nail polish started being sold in department stores and drugstores.

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Stories

TECHNICOLOR In the 1930s, movie actresses liked to wear nail polish on-screen, especially from 1928 onwards when the Technicolor Process 3 allowed them to be seen 1. Marlene Dietrich www.imdb.com/name/nm0000017 2. Koichiro Doi www.koichirodoi.com Contact: info@koichirodoi.com Koichiro Doi’s agent: Julian Meijer ww.julianmeijer.com Contact: julian@julianmeijer.com

in full-color glory. They all wore Revlon - Marlene Dietrich, Mae West, Hedy Lamar, young Bette Davis and Gene Terney among them.

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THE WEST “THE WEST DRENCHES EVERYTHING WITH MEANING,” SAID ROLAND BARTHES, IN THE EMPIRE OF SIGNS. IN CONTRAST TO THE FAR EAST AND JAPAN IN PARTICULAR, WHERE THE MATT IS VENERATED. 1.

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THE ENTIRE POLEMIC OF NAIL POLISH CAN BE RESUMED IN A FEW WORDS: REFLECT, EMBELLISH, FLOW, POUR, MAKE INNOCENT, INFINITE IN VARIETY. THESE DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS HAVE MADE THE NAIL POLISH MARKET CONSISTENTLY PROSPER OVER RECENT YEARS AND HAVE TRANSFORMED IT INTO THE BEATING HEART

OF THE COSMETICS INDUSTRY WITH, AT THE CENTER, THE COLOR WHICH HAS ALLOWED THIS MONO-PRODUCT TO EVOLVE INTO INFINITE VARIETIES. AND THERE ARE STILL NEW HORIZONS TO EXPLORE, NEW IDEAS FOR STAGING, PACKAGING AND COMPLICITY BETWEEN PRODUCERS AND CREATORS.

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COMING UP

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The concept of generation: what is the future?

Are we all the descendants of Jean-Paul Goude?

Bearing / Transporting

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