Brooklyn-based photographer Mike Garten fights the banality of makeup still-lifes by connecting his to art history. It’s a difficult job photographing makeup and making it look graphic and interesting and beautiful, but it’s another level of difficulty making the photos transcend their purpose as commercial devices. His new cosmetic still-lifes do this by summoning the spirit of surrealist Jean Arp. Styled by painter Ashley Zangle and photographed on alternating black and white surfaces, they present a sleekly slapstick echo of the founding DADA member’s curvaceous sculptural works.

Feature Shoot Contributing Editor Matthew Leifheit is an independent writer, curator, and photographer based in New York City.