The Negroni Cocktail Celebrates Its Centenary Year With A Spectacular Art Exhibition In Milan
Campari presents a new exhibition project in its own Gallery spaces.
The exhibition N100. The Art of Negroni features 29 artistic interpretations of the iconic cocktail with a Campari soul, in the year of its centenary celebrations. The cocktail was in fact invented in 1919 in Florence at the Caffé Casoni by Fosco Scarselli, when the erudite and refined Count Camilo Negroni asked him to add gin instead of soda to his favourite drink: the Americano.
Starting from three equal parts of Red Vermouth, London Dry Gin and the indispensable Campari that make it up, the imagery of Negroni has been pieced together over the years through its appearances in literature, art and cinema. The Negroni is in fact drunk for example by James Bond in the film For Your Eyes Only; Ernest Hemingway included it in Across the River and Into the Trees; Audrey Hepburn is said to have called for Negroni to be served at the parties she organised during the filming of Roman Holiday, and Orson Wells apparently became a fan of the cocktail after discovering it in Rome in 1947 while shooting Black Magic.
Looking back at its fascinating history, some of the most interesting voices of the Italian and international artistic panorama, both among emerging and mid-career artists, have been called upon to interpret the iconic cocktail. Campari has inspired artists from all over the world, collaborating with partners such as Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design of London, the IED – Istituto Europeo di Design and the artistic collective Visionar from Milan.
The artists involved representing Italy are Alvvino, Giacomo Bagnara, Iolanda Bellotti, Elenia Berretta, Margherita Terraneo, Alessandro Cripsta, Federico Epis, Luca Font, Elisa De Alencar Rodrigues, Jacopo Rosati and Francesco Poiana.
The exhibition also features a broad international presence with the works of Michael Corridore and Jamie Preisz from Australia; André Clemente from Brazil; Søren Behncke from Denmark; Emil Wikström from Finland; Julia Spiers from France; Alicia Martha Gisela Stricker from Germany; Spiros Halaris from Greece; Jan Chan from Hong Kong; Rupert Whale from the UK; Lianne Nixon from the Netherlands; El Marquès, Lu J Son and Pablo Castaneda from Spain; and Jeanette Getrost from the United States.
The display titled The Art of Negroni showcases the results of these collaborations through a diverse collection of creative installations, illustrations, pictorial and photographic works dedicated to the Negroni cocktail and to what it represents, both in the collective imagination and in the personal visions of the artists involved.
The variety of works presented pays testimony to the various stylistic approaches that also reflect the range of refined billboards from the early 20th century to the Futurist designs ushered in by Depero, and the famous lettering in the works of Bruno Munari, while the subjects represented are inspired by the iconic Campari bottle itself, the botanical notes in the cocktail ingredients, right up to entirely abstract interpretations conjured up by the Negroni bouquet.
The Campari approach, both visionary and forward-looking, has thus always been a source of inspiration, and not just for bartenders.
Through an approach which is simultaneously classic and contemporary, the brand has forged artistic partnerships with both Italian and international illustrators, painters, directors, poets and sketch-artists, contributing to the development of an entrepreneurial vision for an avant-garde brand.
The Art of Negroni is therefore also a homage to the extraordinary world of Campari advertising material, which ever since its origins in 1860, has made use of the arts as its narrative vehicle and communicative channel of choice.
The Art of Negroni exhibition is now open at the Galleria Campari in Milan, until Friday 20th December 2019. Visit https://www.campari.com/ for more information.
