The three first growths of the Pauillac region from the 1855 classification of Bordeaux inspire this collection created in contemporary materials. Using monetary symbolism, the Pauillac sculptures juxtapose the present with the past while exploring notions of currency and historic value. Each piece encloses sealed vials of wine in hand-blown borosilicate glass vessels. The outer cases are created from copper, brass or mirror finish stainless steel. Each sculpture is signed in an edition of five.
Of Capital Decent, 2015, copper, borosilicate glass, wine, LED panel, photograph, 30 x 30 inches, edition of five
Inspired by Chateau Lafite Rothschild in Bordeaux, France, Of Capital Decent was the first wine sculpture in the Pauillac collection. Hand-blown glass vessels filled with wine are backlit through a photograph and enclosed in a copper casing to aesthetically distill the experience of the chateau and its wine. Through the use of iconic and historic monetary symbols stacked in abstract obelisk profiles, the sculpture visually suggests a conceptual bloodline connecting the monetary symbols within a common ancestry. The background image of today’s Chinese legal tender creates a juxtaposition between the currencies that have valued the chateau in the past with those that are supporting it in the present.
Aries Rising, 2015, mirror finish stainless steel, borosilicate glass, wine, LED panel, photograph, 30 x 30 inches, edition of five
Aries Rising is a wine sculpture that aesthetically distills the experience of Chateau Mouton Rothschild of Bordeaux. Hand-blown glass vessels filled with wine are backlit through a photograph of American currency and set in a mirror finish steel frame. The ram, which has been an icon for the Chateau since the early 1900s, is commonly misconceived as a translation of “sheep” in English. The word “Mouton” in old French actually translates to “small mount”, in reference to the topography and terroir of the property. The ram’s actual origins are rooted in the astrological sign of the late Baron Philippe de Rothschild, member of the Rothschild banking dynasty and owner of the chateau. The Pauillac sculptures juxtapose the present with the past while exploring notions of currency and historic value. The ram’s assent on the graph is a contemporary counterpart to the historic monetary symbols in the other sculptures; inviting contemplation of the many aspects of value – among wines, among people.
En-Counting, 2015, brass, borosilicate glass, wine, LED panel, photograph, 30 x 30 inches, edition of five
Known as the most powerful of the five first growths of Bordeaux, Chateau Latour was the inspiration for the wine sculpture, En-Counting. Through aesthetic distillation, the sculpture transcends the experience of the wine and its chateau. Enclosed in a brass casing are hand-blown, hermetically sealed vials of wines which are backlit through a photograph of Canadian currency. Using monetary symbolism, the Pauillac sculptures juxtapose the present with the past while exploring notions of currency and historic value. On the left, the iconic Caribou from the Canadian 25 cent piece dating from 1937 opposes Napoleon Bonaparte III of France from a gold coin dating 1866. Two iconic monetary symbols that capture the power of both the chateau and its wine.