Exhibit reveals make-up secrets
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 8, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 MARY HOLSCHER The UCLA Fowler Museum hosts the exhibit
"Making Faces, Playing God" until July 29.
By Emily Pauker
Daily Bruin Contributor
Whoever said you can’t turn a sow’s ear into a silk
purse never saw a make-up artist at work.
A new exhibit at the Fowler Museum, “Making Faces, Playing
God: The Art of Transformational Makeup,” explores how makeup
artists bring their creative visions to life on their
three-dimensional human canvasses.
Though there are many books and television specials about
makeup, most show the art of makeup from a how-to perspective. The
Fowler exhibit, however, examines the craft from a unique
psychological and social perspective, emphasizing that everything a
makeup artist creates is a reflection of his or her
imagination.
According to the accompanying plaques at the exhibit, makeup is
a three-part process begun by the artists, animated by the actors,
and perceived by the audience.
Illusory changes created by the artists have no meaning until
the actor takes on the role and uses it as a tool to enhance the
development of a character. The way each member of the audience
perceives the actor influences how realistic they perceive the
character to be.
The exhibit itself is very simplistic. It is divided up into
different types of makeup transformations, such as demons, aliens
and disguises.
One example shows the different steps in makeup transformation
by explaining the ingredients in the makeup mask, such as foamed
gelatin, silicon gel and foam latex.
Most of the exhibit consists of a series of fascinating photos
of different makeup transformations, often contrasting the finished
disguise with with the person’s original, unaltered
appearance.
 UCLA Fowler Museum Actor Mark Metcalf
shows off the gruesome makeup he wears as The Master in "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer." The exhibit even features a deceptively simple
game, a series of 14 mixed pairs of “before” and
“after” photos, arranged to challenge the viewer to
match up each “before” photo with its corresponding
“after” photo. It sounds like an easy task, but the
results are astounding. It is difficult to identify even two faces
out of the 14. The exhibit showcases such unlikely transformations
as a young caucasian male being made to look like an elderly Native
American woman.
Fans of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” will be happy to
see that several of the show’s ghouls and vampires are
featured in the exhibit. Also present are several makeup
transformations of aliens and creatures from popular shows such as
the “X-Files” and “Babylon Five.”
The only noticeable failing in this exhibit is that it breaks
down the makeup process more to reflect the creative vision of the
makeup artist than to explain the actual mechanics of the craft.
The psycho-social approach to makeup may spark viewer’s
curiosity, but it only gives a superficial explanation of the
actual process, leaving viewers feeling only partially
satisfied.
Also, most of the pictures in the exhibit date from the early
’90s. Many recent movies contain even more astounding makeup
transformations but were left out. “The Nutty
Professor,” and, more recently, “The Cell” and
“The Grinch” (an Academy Award winner for best makeup),
are good examples of makeup transformations that could have been
included to make the exhibit more complete and up-to-date.
Even so, this exhibit gives viewers an appreciation of that
realm of the entertainment industry, showing how complex and
interesting it really can be. Whether someone is into prime time
teen television transformations, movie magic, or just like being
surprised, this exhibit is worthwhile.
MUSEUM: “The Art of Transformational
Makeup” will be in the Fowler Museum through July 29. It is
funded by the Ahmanson Foundation. Admission to the museum is $1
for students and $3 for staff, faculty and alumni association
members. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 5
p.m. and Thursday until 8 p.m.
