The spirited quest for artistic talent in the drinks industry.
The link between artists and alcohol brands is a natural connection and reaches back centuries. Toulouse Lautrec (1864-1901) often designed artworks featuring his favorite tipple, absinthe, and Italian graphic designer Leonetto Cappiello (1875- 1942) known as the father of modern advertising, turned ads into art. In 1924, the young poster artist Jean Carlu created a label for Mouton Rothschild, which, decades later, sparked a series of collaborations with artists ranging from Miro, Chagall, Picasso, Francis Bacon, Jeff Koons and even King Charles. Later, Campari rode the Futurist wave starting in the 1920’s with Fortunato Depero and his bold and geometric designs.
Absolut is another brand that worked with the art world in the packaging, labelling and advertising of their vodkas. A notable contribution in the 1980’s was by pop art icon Andy Warhol. Upon Warhol’s suggestion, other collaborations grew, such as artists Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, and Romero Britto. The Spritmuseum in Stockholm offers an exciting journey through contemporary art exhibitions, cultural history as well as presenting the trends in the Swedish beverage industry.
Maison Hennessy took on a collaboration with Yan PeiMing, honoring the Year of the Rabbit with a painting, measuring 6 x 3,5 meters, showing the animal within the extended family of the Chinese zodiac. Entitled La Grande Course, it is a vibrant composition inspired in part by an epic saga from Hollywood’s golden era, showing the zodiac animals galloping in unison, evoking a message of freedom, inclusion, and interconnectedness. The special piece is accompanied by limited Lunar New Year editions of Hennessy V.S.O.P, Hennessy X.O, and Hennessy Paradis cognacs featuring elements of this artwork.
Sometimes, the artist is everyone and no one (human), all at once. Bombay Sapphire is collaborating with Baz Luhrmann to inspire people to discover the creativity and beauty that exists all around, launching the Saw This Made This Installation on World Creativity Day 2023. Baz Luhrmann issued a creative call-to-arms and the general public submitted images of something that creatively inspires them using the hashtag #SawThisMadeThis. Ai-Da, the world’s first ultra-realistic robot artist created live A.I. artworks from the images received. Installations at The Design Museum in London and the Chelsea Factory in New York celebrated the thousands of artworks interpreted by Ai-Da.
Sometimes art transcends the two dimensional to enter the realm of all five senses, as is with The Singleton Rooms of Maximalism. To promote the Singleton 40-YearOld, which saw Malt Master Maureen Robinson push a secondary maturation in experimental casks to the extreme, neuroscientist Katherine Templar Lewis helped influence the development of artworks with ‘Sensorial Maximalism’, where consciousness is heightened through the curation of the external environment, preparing the taster for a superlative experience.
The unveiling of a sculpture by Zhou Yilun took place in Shanghai, exploring the collision between liquid and casks. At the experience there were also areas of sensory deprivation, sonically induced ASMR through a soundscape by Moodsonic and digital art by Found Studios, deploying movement at varying speeds, designed to bring guests into a flow state alongside a range of touchable textures, all building on the guests’ sensorial experience. Zhou Yilun said: “Through a single, grandiose sculptural installation, I sought to capture the collision of liquid and wood present in The Singleton 40-year-old whisky… It is my hope that the sculpture embodies the sensorial experience of the liquid for the viewer.”
Heightened senses, appreciation for artistry, and commercial success of brands have always been a seductive cocktail, taking the taste experience from the palate to the psyche.
Sharla Ault
