A look at which wine brands are tasking top contemporary artists to create eye-catching labels for art-inspired sipping.
WAVES Wine series designed by Jen Stark WAVES PHOTO BY TIMONY SIOBHAN RAMOS
Selecting the right wine is a tricky business. For contemporary art fans, choosing is easier when one’s favorite artist designs the label. Created to complement the wine’s character, these artist labels are visual indications of taste—not only of the wine but of the purchaser, too.
Jen Stark for Las Jaras Wines and WAVES Wines
In 2017, California-based Las Jaras asked artist Jen Stark to create a wine label for their Sparkling Wine and, later, their Trousseau Gris. Las Jaras was founded by winemaker Joel Burt and television funnyman Eric Wareheim to provide quality wines in an upbeat style. Jen Stark’s colorful and psychedelic artwork proved an ideal funky fit. The artist channeled each wine’s flavor to inspire computer-generated designs composed of luminescent lines expressive of the wine’s hue and tang. When Joel and Eric launched WAVES canned wines, Jen’s accessible style fit perfectly. For WAVES white, red, and rosé, Stark created undulating waves in the palette of each wine, embodying the easy-going and playful attitude of aluminum can drinking. In 2022, Jen joined WAVES as Creative Director and part owner.
A bottle of Château Mouton Rothschild 2021 with label created by Chiharu Shiota; Las Jaras Sparkling Wine with label design by Jen Stark. PHOTOS COURTESY OF RESPECTIVE ARTISTS AND BRANDS
Chiharu Shiota for Château Mouton Rothschild
The French Château Mouton Rothschild has a 78-year legacy of commissioning artists to create their signature vintage labels. From the first official label designed by Philippe Jullian to Salvador Dalí, Henry Moore, and Jeff Koons, the iconic bottles blend quality and creativity, deeming them collectible and sought after at auction. The latest 2021 Mouton Rothschild vintage features artwork by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota titled Universe of Mouton. Selected by Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, Shiota’s drawing depicts a figure holding a balloon of red circles (perhaps grapes), illustrating the human-nature equilibrium required for premier winemaking.
Vahakn Arslanian for KARA Wines
In 2013, cultural engineer and winemaker Katrina Rank worked with artist Vahakn Arslanian to create his first wine label—a burning candle painting—for a one-off 2011 KARA Margaux French vintage. This was followed by a red cardinal painting for KARA’s Chalone California Pinot Noir. A small Oregon biodynamic vineyard in Willamette Valley, KARA then partnered with Bertrand de Villaine of Burgundy to produce COMPOSITION Oregon Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Both bottles featured Arslanian’s bird paintings created using nail polish and brushes on watercolor paper. Arslanian, who has autism spectrum disorder and is predominantly deaf, paints birds, planes, and candles because he can hear their high-pitched sounds and feels the vibration and heat.
Photography by: Photos Courtesy: Artist and Brands
