Ker-Chin-Chin

Wine collectors will already regard their cellars as a gallery of fine taste equal to any art collection, however collectors may want to keep Dom Pérignon’s 2003 Rosé Vintage above ground. The prestigious champagne house has invited Jeff Koons to produce a limited edition collaboration package that includes a scaled down version of his 2008 sculpture Balloon Venus, inspired by the ancient fertility statue Venus of Willendorf. The voluptuous vessel, exaggerated by Koons’s trademark inflatable aesthetic is anything but understated and the same can be said for its price tag – at $20,000 this is Dom Pérignon’s most expensive collaboration to date, after David Lynch, Andy Warhol (A Toast To Pop, July 2010), Karl Lagerfeld and Marc Newson. The iconic bottle’s label and foiling mirrors that of its presentation box in metallic majenta – a nod to its rosé interior.

 

   Balloon Venus, Dom Pérignon 2003 Rosé Vintage

This is not of course Koons’s first foray into the cellar – in 2010 Baroness Philippine de Rothschild continued the annual tradition since 1945 at the winery of Baron Philippe de Rothschild to commission an artist to design the label for its Château Mouton Rothschild bottles. Koons joined Picasso, Dali, Freud, Bacon and Warhol in this exclusive club with a reworking of the classical fresco image from Pompeii of yet another Venus - the House of the Venus Marina III - superimposed with an infantile silver line drawing of a sun and sailing boat. Château Mouton Rothschild 2010 remains one of the most expensive of the Moutons from the winery’s vintage from Pauillac over the last decade and is sought after by wine and art connoisseurs alike.

 

This latest luxury association with an art world grandee is somewhat of a first with regards to its price bracket, inevitably posing the question: is Dom Pérignon’s 2003 Rosé Vintage the most expensive champagne in one’s cellar or is Balloon Venus the most accessible Jeff Koons one can collect? Whatever camp it lies, Dom Pérignon affirms the high-culture-formula to be much more than a trend in recent years but an essential staple in a brand’s heritage and a profitable identity strategy that justifies larger than life price tags, and in this instance, larger than life lifestyles. For when money is no object, why not have one Balloon Venus in the cellar and the other on display upstairs. Chin-chin to the best of both worlds. 

To find out more about Koons’s luxury lifestyle collaborations from this year read Fine Dining - a commission by French porcelain manufacturer Bernardaud to celebrate their 150th Anniversary with a collection of plates for L’Art de la Table.

Visit Dom Pérignon for more details on this year's limited edition Balloon Venus release due in September.

Fine Dining

Jeff Koons - Banality Series

Like many luxury brands celebrating a landmark anniversary, art collaboration remains an attractive currency that has evolved into somewhat of a default go-to within the walls of luxury PR in recent years. The benefits of art association are win-win for both brand and customer, and let’s not forget the artist whose portfolio as a result is able to span accessibility no matter how many zeros one has in their bank account.

France’s premier porcelain manufacturer Bernardaud marks their 150th Anniversary this year by commissioning an eclectic group of international creatives to design a collection of plates for L’Art de la Table. The roster of French and international artists, filmmakers and photographers include: Jean-Michel Alberola, Marco Brambilla, Sophie Calle, Fassianos, Jeff Koons, Michael Lin, David Lynch, Marlène Mocquet, Nabil Nahas, Prune Nourry & JR and Sarkis.

Fassianos - Alexandre and Bucephale

Art’s exploration into homewares is not entirely unfamiliar with the likes of Damien Hirst’s publishing company and commercial platform, Other Criteria, already producing espresso cups by the artist (Money Maker, April 2012) and other products designed by his contemporaries such as Mat Collishaw, Eduardo Sarabia and Cindy Sherman (Tea With Cindy, April 2010). What is hanging on the white cube walls of a gallery is now available to enjoy on the white crisp linen of one’s dinner table. What better after-dinner surprise could there be once guests clean up their haute cuisine to find haute art on their plate and fundamentally, the oh-so haute taste of their host? French artist Sophie Colle admits,

“I enjoy eating out of other people’s plates because I always get the impression that what they have is better.”

 Prune Nourry & JR - I'm Not In My Plate

For the luxury house’s anniversary, Koons delves deep into his archives of kitsch and sources imagery from his controversial Banality series - first released as sculptures made from porcelain in 1988 - to speak of the material’s historic journey; from it’s empirical status through to its democratisation for the masses. Photographer and graffiti artist JR works with emerging artist Prune Nourry on black and white images of hands – "a man's most essential tool" – on the front and reverse of the plate that results in a contemporary illusion ideal for dinner talk. Calle creates a new work titled Le Porc (The Pig) for a six-piece set that depicts a narrative across the collection. Calle explains,

“What I really like about these plates is creating a sort of ritual to make people's life complicated. People have to sit in order, there have to be six at the table and breaking a plate becomes a no-no.”

David Lynch - 12 ...and the boundless sea - holding it all

Lynch continues with the theme of narrative from plate to plate in his story the Boundless Sea. The darkest expression of the commissions, the twelve-piece set is undoubtedly Lynchian, with the filmmaker himself confessing his pleasure in their abstract turn out,

“My drawings are so beautifully captured, it makes me feel there is more room for experimentation.”

In times when it seems everyone documents every morsel of food on a plate before eating, Bernarduaud proves what lies beneath is equally photo worthy.

Sophie Calle - Le Porc

The collections retail from $460.00 for a six-piece set in editions in French and English by Calle to $1180.00 for a twelve-piece set by Lynch. For further details visit Bernardaud’s boutiques in France, New York and Chicago or visit the L’Art de la Table website for specifications and E-Shop.

Images courtesy of Bernardaud

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