Artist David Shrigley creates stunning artworks at Champagne house Ruinart
Anyone who has ever visited Champagne will not have missed it: the combination of sparkling wine and art works incredibly well. At Maison Ruinart, they make no secret of their love of art. Every year, they invite a leading contemporary artist or designer for a stay, and this year the honour goes to British artist David Shrigley.
And it was certainly no punishment. “When you want to make art about the production of Champagne, you have to make several visits to the Champagne region; visit the crayères and the vineyards; and you have to ask the people who work there questions and listen very carefully to what they say. And above all, you have to drink some champagne” , explains David Shrigley.
Distinctive drawing style
David Shrigley is best known for his distinctive drawing style. In Champagne, he wandered among the vines and in the wine cellars, creating 36 drawings, as well as two ceramic pieces and a door.
David Shrigley was also given carte blanche for the design of a limited edition Jeroboam Blanc de Blancs. In other words, a three-litre bottle (also known as a ‘double Magnum’) of Ruinart’s flagship wine.
Art in the crayères
The crayères, the centuries-old labyrinths more than thirty metres underground where the bottles mature, are unique to Champagne, and David was impressed too. He left many traces behind, such as sculpted faces in the fragile walls and idiosyncratic graffiti.
Unconventional Bubbles
His “Unconventional Bubbles” will be unveiled in Paris this month and subsequently exhibited at the 37 international contemporary art fairs with which Maison Ruinart is officially collaborating in 2020. In the Netherlands, David Shrigley’s artworks can be seen at Unseen Amsterdam in September 2020.
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