If playing it safe were a person, it would stay far away from makeup artist Marcelo Gutierrez – from airbrushed skull make-up to neon pink paint swiped across the whole face, the Columbian-born makeup artist works within his own spellbinding rulebook. Now, Gutierrez is celebrating the release of his debut book, Nothing Precious, which recounts the story of the artist’s decade-long creative journey in New York through a profusion of evocative photos.

Born to two creative parents in Bogota, Gutierrez immigrated to California as a child and undertook a degree in fine arts, where he quickly dropped out and, in 2014, moved to New York. There, Gutierrez fell in love with the grittiness of the city’s underground club scene, swapping out his paintbrush for a beauty blender as he began practicing on himself for nights out. Since then, the 30-year-old MUA has helped flip the status quo in the fashion and arts worlds – advocating for increased diversity and representation from queer and Latinx communities. Not only has he caught the attention of Pat McGrath, who urged Gutierrez to pursue makeup in the beginnings of his career, but his star-studded clientele includes Dua Lipa, Lila Moss, Paloma Elsesser and Gabbriette, to name a few.

Nothing Precious holds up a mirror to the mastery of Gutierrez’s trailblazing attitude toward beauty, with a foreword written by Lily-Rose Depp and exclusive features from Joan Smalls, Gabbriette, Paloma Elsesser and Lourdes Leon. The book, shot by Renell Medrano and Aidan Zamiri, pays tribute to the close-knit connections Gutierrez has formed with collaborators over the years and who have helped to shape his body of work. Available exclusively at Climax books in New York and Nothingprecious.co, we caught up with the makeup maestro ahead of Nothing Precious’ debut.

How did you get into fashion?

I got into fashion being a young queer man navigating the social codes of dressing that society imposed on different groups of people, that’s when I first started getting into fashion.

The industry you started working in is very different to the fashion landscape now,
what was it like working alongside this change?

I would say the biggest difference I see now is how formulaic everything is now. Everything is so predictable and that leaves little room for reinvention and creativity. There’s a lot less money in many parts of the fashion industry and that makes it more difficult for the big bosses to be willing to take creative risks, so many times what’s trendy wins but that’s not always the best long-term strategy.

What’s it been like working with so many A-list celebrities? Do you have a dream
celebrity that you’d love to work with?

To be honest, most of the public facing people I work with, in one form or another, I have a personal relationship or we share mutual friends. It’s important for me to have some connection to someone in order to have a long and successful working relationship. Getting the opportunity to work with Madonna, now a couple times, has been a dream. Other than that, I’d love to work with Lana Del Rey.

How would you describe your style as an MUA?

My style is sensitive, chameleon, playful and artful.

Do you have any I made it/pinch me moment that you cover in the book?

Nothing Precious isn’t a retrospective of my work, it’s all new work with all the people I have loved and that have loved me back over the past decade. So in some ways, it’s a retrospective of collaborators. Making my own book in itself is a pinch me moment, it’s taken a lot of resources and a lot of effort from many talented people to bring this together.

What made you want to create Nothing Precious?

The lack of publications in New York and the longing I had for focusing on a centralised body of work really ignited the idea for the book. Europe has so many more spaces for this creativity in publications but with New York being so commercial I felt it necessary to make my own platform. I also just wanted something of my own that expanded on my capacity, not just as a makeup artist, but as a storyteller.

Why did you pick Lily-Rose Depp as the writer for the foreword?

Lily and I have become close friends over the course of the last few years. What people don’t get to see is how brilliantly poetic she is, not just on screen, but also in everything she does. We both have the most thoughtful conversations and I thought it would be too expected to shoot her and rather more provocative to capture her in words rather than as a character.

What made New York so exciting for you whilst working there?

There is no better city in the world.

For people reading the book, what do you hope is their main takeaway?

I hope people are simply just inspired to create more outside of the lines drawn by everyone else. I hope it opens up avenues of creativity for younger artists and also allows others to understand myself more as an artist.

What are some of your favourite photos in the book? Can you go into the stories
behind them?

Gosh, every single one is so different because each person has a singular different look so it’s impossible to pick.

You’ve mentioned how this book is like a tribute to the people that have contributed to your career, what do those people mean to you?

This industry can feel very difficult to navigate at times, from the creative side to the political games. I really value and cherish the friends, family and allies I’ve made in the last decade. Trust, honesty and kindness do have value.

Nothing Precious is very much a retrospective take on the past decade of New York and the fashion industry, what change do you hope to see for the industry in another decade?

Nothing Precious is a book that expands on my work in the last decade. It’s all new work with many familiar faces. I think we are entering a turbulent next decade in the world and I’m not sure things will get better until they get worse. I hope that fashion keeps some sense of responsibility to humanity and the Earth in the next decade. I hope that in the globalisation that continues to boom, fashion continues to become more inclusive of different talents from different backgrounds.

Photography by Renell Medrano and Aidan Zamiri.

@marcelogutierrez