Nars Andy Warhol Holiday 2012 Collection…and the Stories Behind the Names

These superstars from the limited edition Nars Andy Warhol Holiday 2012 collection will undoubtedly get their 15 minutes of fame and more.

The aesthetic creations and beloved muses of the iconic artist inspired not only this collection but also several other Nars products in the permanent range. Read more about them below.

Pop art pioneer, filmmaker, publisher, Andy Warhol was one of the most important visual artists of the 20th century.

More than twenty years after his death, Andy Warhol remains one of the most influential figures in contemporary art and culture. Warhol’s life and work inspire creative thinkers worldwide thanks to his enduring imagery, his artfully cultivated celebrity, and the ongoing research of dedicated scholars. His impact as an artist is far deeper and greater than his one prescient observation that “everyone will be world famous for fifteen minutes.”

His omnivorous curiosity resulted in an enormous body of work that spanned every available medium and most importantly contributed to the collapse of boundaries between high and low culture.

Nat Finkelstein, Andy Warhol’s ‘Silver Clouds’ Exhibition, Leo Castelli Gallery NYC, 1966. Nars Silvery Factory Gift Set: Silver Factory Multiple, Eyeshadow Trio in Aluminium, Bright Deep Purple and Matte Black, Chelsea Girls Pure Matte Lipstick, Desire Blush, Via Veneto Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner, Large Domed Eyeshadow Brush No. 13, Blush Brush No. 8 (S$270)

 Kiss
A film by Andy Warhol. Made in 1963-64, it is a non-narrative, silent, black-and-white film of couples kissing. Part of a loose trilogy: Eat, Sleep, and Kiss.

Silver Factory
In 1963, Andy Warhol moved into a new studio on East 47th Street New York City. The Silver Factory, as the studio came to be known, became the place to be in the mid-1960s. Knowing no social bounds, it attracted a dynamic mix, equal parts hipsters and socialites. However, the focus of the Factory was Warhol’s art and, thriving on the energy of the scene, Warhol created many of his greatest works of the 1960s there including Brillo Boxes, Flowers, and films featuring his superstars.

Drella
A Warhol nickname: Dracula + Cinderella.

Blue Movie
A 1969 Warhol film starring Viva and Louis Waldon.

Chelsea Girls
A 1966 experimental underground film directed by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey. The film was Warhol’s first major commercial success after a long line of avant-garde art films (both feature length and short). It was shot at the Hotel Chelsea and other locations in New York City, and follows the lives of several of the young women who live there, and stars many of Warhol’s superstars. It is presented in a split screen, accompanied by alternating soundtracks attached to each scene and an alternation between black-and-white and color photography. The original cut runs at just over three hours long.

Myths
A series of prints by Andy Warhol of iconic figures including Santa Claus, Mickey Mouse, the Wicked Witch of the West, Howdy Doody, Dracula, and Superman.

Shadows
Created in the last decade of Warhol’s life, Shadows, 1978 comprises 102 silkscreened and hand-painted canvases featuring distorted photographs of shadows, some set against brightly colored matte grounds.

Andy Warhol, Screen Test: Edie Sedgwick, 1965. Nars Andy Warhol Edie Gift Set: Film Star Pure Matte Lipstick, Edie Eyeshadow, Carpates Eyeliner Stylo, Deep Throat/Amour Blush Duo; in an authentic 16mm film canister (S$105)

Edie
Warhol’s most famous superstar and his muse for several years at the Factory beginning in 1965 was Edie Sedgwick. Sliver-thin, silver-haired Edie was considered by many the most beautiful woman in New York City at the time, and Warhol took her everywhere with him. Edie was a style icon then and continues to be today. Tragically, she died in 1971 at the age of 28.

“Edie was incredible on camera—just the way she moved. And she never stopped moving for a second—even when she was sleeping, her hands were wide awake. She was all energy.” – Andy Warhol

Film Star
Edie was in many Warhol films including Poor Little Rich Girl, Beauty #2, Vinyl and Kitchen.

Andy Warhol, Candy Darling, 1972. NARS Andy Warhol Beautiful Darling: Candy Darling Nail Polish, Femme Fatale Duo Eyeshadow, Woman in Revolt Larger Than Life Lip Gloss (S$75)

Beautiful Darling
Subtitled ‘The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar’, Beautiful Darling is a documentary film that pays tribute to the short but influential life of the actress. Candy was born James Slattery in a Long Island suburb in 1944. By the mid-60s James had become Candy, a gorgeous, blonde actress and well-known downtown New York figure. As part of Andy Warhol’s legendary Factory scene, she starred in two movies that still shock and amuse today: Flesh and Women in Revolt. She dreamed of becoming a Hollywood star, but tragically died of lymphoma in the early 70s, at only twenty-nine.

Femme Fatale
Title of a song by The Velvet Underground (actually about Edie Sedgwick!).

Women in Revolt
A Warhol-produced satirical film directed by Paul Morrissey starring Jackie Curtis, Candy Darling and Holly Woodlawn, three transgendered superstars of Andy Warhol’s Factory scene.

Andy Warhol, Self-Portrait, c. 1963. Nars Andy Warhol Photo Booth Gift Set: Nail Lacquers in Silver Factory, Chelsea Girls, Soup Can, Back Room (S$48/5.5 ml each) 

Photo Booth
Photo booth strips appeared in Warhol’s art in the 1960s. For Warhol, the photo booth represented a quintessentially modern intersection of mass entertainment and private self-contemplation. In these little curtained theaters, the sitter could adopt a succession of different roles, each captured in a single frame and the resulting strip of four poses resembled a snippet of film footage. The serial, mechanical nature of the strips provided Warhol with an ideal model for his aesthetic of passivity, detachment, and instant celebrity.

Soup Can
Reference to Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans, among the most recognizable and celebrated works in the history of art. Warhol began his Campbell’s Soup Can paintings around 1961 and continued using the imagery in different media throughout his career. Warhol utilized the silkscreen technique to produce hundreds of identical paintings and prints thereby removing the artist’s hand almost entirely from the work.

Nars Andy Warhol Back Room Nail Polish (S$30)

Back Room
Reference to the back room at Max’s Kansas City, the storied nightclub where Andy Warhol held court in the mid-sixties.

Debbie Harry
American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. Andy Warhol’s 1980 paintings of her are some of his most accomplished portraits of celebrity.

Walk on the Wild Side
A Lou Reed song from his 1972 album Transformer. The lyrics tell of a series of individuals and their journeys to New York City, and refers to several of the regular superstars at Andy Warhol’s New York studio, The Factory, including Holly Woodlawn and Candy Darling. Candy was also the subject of Reed’s earlier song for The Velvet Underground, Candy Says.

Nars Andy Warhol Self-Portrait Eyeshadow Palettes (S$70)

Self Portrait
The eyeshadow palette image is Warhol’s 1967 Self-Portrait. It was produced in a variety of color combinations.

Flowers
The eyeshadow palette (not available in Singapore) image is Warhol’s Flowers, which he first painted in 1964. The paintings were based on a color photograph of hibiscus blossoms and he produced over 400 variations of this painting.

Nars Andy Warhol 47th Street Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner (S$36)

47th Street
Reference to the location of the Factory, Andy Warhol’s original New York City studio from 1962 to 1968 on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street, in Midtown Manhattan. The rent was only about one hundred dollars a year. The building no longer exists.

Nars Andy Warhol Soft Touch Shadow Pencils: Empire, Trash, Silver Factory, Heat (S$36)

Empire
A 1964 silent, black-and-white film by Andy Warhol. It consists of eight hours and five minutes of continuous slow motion footage of the Empire State Building.

Heat
A 1972 film parody of Sunset Boulevard written and directed by Paul Morrissey, produced by Andy Warhol, and starring Joe Dallesandro, Sylvia Miles, and Andrea Feldman.

Trash
Also known as Andy Warhol’s Trash, a 1970 film directed and written by Paul Morrissey.

Viva
Born Janet Hoffmann, she was given the name Viva by Andy Warhol before the release of her first film with him, The Loves of Ondine (1967). She appeared in several of Warhol’s films and was a regular at The Factory.

Nars Andy Warhol Holly Woodlawn Larger Than Life Lip Gloss (S$37)

Holly Woodlawn
Born Haroldo in Puerto Rico, Woodlawn adopted the name Holly from the heroine of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and in 1969 added the surname from a sign she saw on an episode of I Love Lucy. Woodlawn first met Andy Warhol at a Factory screening and was given a role in Trash. It is Holly whom Lou Reed refers to in his song Walk on the Wild Side, in the lyric “Holly came from Miami, F-L-A.”

Nars Andy Warhol International Velvet Larger Than Life Lip Gloss (S$37)

International Velvet
At the age of sixteen, Susan Bottomly began modeling with the Ford Agency and appeared on the cover of Mademoiselle magazine. The following year she met poet and Factory regular Gerard Malanga who introduced her to Warhol. After appearing in a Screen Test, Bottomly was renamed International Velvet and went on to appear in Superboy and Chelsea Girls. A tall, long-necked brunette with graceful physicality, she worked diligently on her personal cosmetics regimen, a process which Warhol observed with fascination: “Watching someone like Susan Bottomly, who had such perfect, full, fine features, doing all this on her face was like watching a beautiful statue painting itself.”

Nars Andy Warhol Penny Arcade Larger Than Life Lip Gloss (S$37)

Penny Arcade
A performance artist who appeared briefly in Warhol’s Women in Revolt (real name: Susana Ventura).

Nars Andy Warhol Candy Says Larger Than Life Lip Gloss (S$37)

Candy Says
Title of a Velvet Underground song about Candy Darling. “Candy says I’ve come to hate my body and all that it requires in this world.”

Nars Andy Warhol Satellite of Love Highlighting Blush (S$50)

Satellite of Love
One of Lou Reed’s best-known songs from his 1972 album Transformer.

Nars Andy Warhol Superstar Nail Polish (S$30)

Superstar
Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by Andy Warhol during the 1960s and early 1970s. These personalities appeared in Warhol’s artworks and accompanied him in his social life. They epitomized Warhol’s famous dictum: “In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.” Warhol would simply film them, and declare them “superstars”.

Nars Andy Warhol 15 Minutes Nail Polish (S$30)

15 Minutes
A reference to Andy Warhol’s prophetic 1968 statement: “In the future, everybody will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”

Nars Andy Warhol New York Dolls Nail Polish (S$30)

New York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971 with members including David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain.

Nars Andy Warhol TV Party Nail Polish (S$30)

TV Party
Public-access television cable TV show hosted by Glenn O’Brien, former music critic for Andy Warhol’s Interview from 1978-1982. Guests included such then-underground figures as David Byrne, Klaus Nomi, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and bands like Blondie and The Clash.

In Singapore, this collection will be available for sale at the Nars counter at the refreshed Tangs Orchard Beauty Hall from 3 pm today. Happy shopping! ♥