Rose Wylie RA (b. 1934), Self Portrait with Shut Mouth, 2017. Copyright The Artist
We are delighted to share that Rose Wylie RA’s Self Portrait with Shut Mouth (2017), from the Jerwood Collection, is currently on display in Blusher: Art, Makeup, Materiality at Leicester Gallery until 6 September 2025.
Curated by artist and former makeup artist Cathy Lomax, the exhibition explores makeup as a potent artistic medium, deeply entangled with identity, gender, ritual, and societal perception. Bringing together works by more than 40 artists—including Rose Wylie, Karla Black, and Cary Kwok—Blusher investigates makeup’s symbolic, painterly, and transformative properties. Challenging its historical dismissal as decorative or superficial, the exhibition reclaims makeup’s aesthetic and cultural significance, revealing its complex ties to femininity, commodification, and power.
Rose Wylie (b. 1934) is celebrated for her bold, large-scale paintings that draw on popular culture, memory, and art history. Self Portrait with Shut Mouth reflects her distinctive style, characterised by expressive brushwork, and vibrant colour. The painting offers a witty and unconventional take on self-portraiture, encapsulating Wylie’s unique voice within contemporary British art.
August 6, 2025
