Urban Decay’s New Basquiat Collab Is For Boujee Art Babes Everywhere
Get ready because April 20th will be a glorious day for all makeup and art lovers!
Urban Decay is setting to release a collection featuring the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat, and inspired by him, too. The collaboration between one of the most popular makeup brands and one of the world’s most beloved artists is something to take notice of, especially since the collection is available for a limited time only. So, you better get all your coins ready because it for sure won’t last long.
There’s something about hearing of any Basquiat collaboration that leads to expected greatness — crazy, in your face, and unapologetic.
Basquiat was a brilliant Brooklyn born self-taught artist, who went beyond the norm. He challenged social and political issues through his art. His career didn’t start until the late 70s — while he was attending the City-as-School in New York, he created a fictional character named SAMO (pronounced Same-Oh), meaning Same Old Shit. And alongside Al Diaz, they began the SAMO project, where they used the name as a graffiti tag — tagging trains and buildings around Manhattan.
After dropping out of school in ’77, he struggled for a few years, selling hand-painted T-shirts and postcards to make some cash. Once the 80s hit, the work of Basquiat started to take off in the mainstream. He reached critical acclaim for his style of work, where he showcased his work in a number of shows during his time and is often referred to as one of the heavy hitters of Neo-Expressionism.
He was kind of an overnight sensation who rose to fame quickly, but unfortunately like the musicians he admired (Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin), he fell victim to drug abuse and died at the early of 27 in 1988 of an overdose.
Even though he was taken so early in his career, his use of color, figures, symbols, and words, continued to be loved by admirers long after. Throughout his epic life, Basquiat delivered genius that still draws inspiration for other artists of today.
Some of his most notable works are, of course, SAMO, Untitled (Skull) (1981), Flexible (1982), Untitled (History of the Black People) (1983), and much more.
For more on Jean-Michael Basquiat, click here.
We were dying to know what inspired UD to do this collab, not to mention why they hired Ruby Rose (which caused some controversy) to be the face of it. So, I caught with up the brand to help settle our wonders. They said Basquiat’s estate actually approached UD to do the collab.
Also, Ruby Rose is majorly passionate about Basquiat — she’s got his iconic crown tattoo on her chest, and she’s got a portrait of him inked on her arm.
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Now, as a personal sucker for packaging, I have to give it UD on how incredibly packaged all the products are. You can literally transform each product as a piece of art display in your home — making an instant art gallery. Each item is incapsulated in reproductions of Basquiat’s signature style of graffiti art.
The price of the collection range from $17 to $165. And I guaranteed that this super limited edition collection will not last!
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UD x Basquiat Vice Lipsticks, $17 each
Vice lipsticks are already apart of UD lineup, but the brand decided to create three exclusive new shades created around the unusual colors found in Basquiat’s artwork for the collaboration. From left to right — Abstract (nude-taupe), Exhibition (medium pink-purple), and Epigram (natural sienna).
UD x Basquiat Gold Griot Eyeshadow Palette, $39
The neutral version of the palettes included in the collection, features eight brand new shades of neutral shadows that comes with a double ended brush. But get this, on the back of the palette features a hook so you can easily display it as artwork afterwards.
UD x Basquiat Tenant Eyeshadow Palette, $39
The vivid palette includes eight incredible shadows that captures the essence of Basquiat’s use of bright colors. Definitely a palette for daring makeup users.
UD x Basquiat 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil, $20 each
Another UD original, the 24/7 waterproof eyeliners were redesigned to look just like art pencils with three new shades also inspired colors used by Basquiat. From left to right — Post Punk (bright neon green with a hint of pearl), Anatomy (sienna matte), and Vivid (bright teal matte).
UD x Basquiat Gallery Blush Palette, $34
Lipstick✓ Eyeshadow ✓ Eyeliner ✓ Now, all you need is blush, bronzer, and highlighter to round it all out. And without disappointment, UD came through with this four-pan face palette holds two shades of blush, bronzer and highlighter. Like the other palettes, it houses a hook cutout for displaying.
UD x Basquiat Vault, $165
Can’t choose?
Well, get your hands on the Jean-Michel Basquiat Vault that’s encased in the most bomb packaging of Basquiat’s art. It houses all of the nine items in the collection and something tells me this will be one of the first to sell out.
And to complete the collection, UD created some really dope makeup bags which you can find here.
Too impatient to wait for the release? You can check out the early release of the collection at The New Stand in Union Square (by the southwest corner of 14th and Broadway at the subway entrance next to Whole Foods) right now until April 17th from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., where the brand will be paying homage to the late artist by taking over the underground subway store and bringing the collection to life. The underground aspect of the store will give off a certain coolness that is definitely befitting the great Jean-Michel Basquiat!
The collection will be available at select Macy’s stores, Macys.com, Sephora.com, Ulta.com, and UrbanDecay.com
