La Cité du Vin presents Mind-blowing! When art and design take on glass from 15 March to 30 June 2019. In a refined setting, the exhibits are sometimes functional, but more often symbolic or repurposed. Creations from Nicolas Boulard, Achille Castiglioni, Hubert Le Gall, Arik Levy, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Gaetano Pesce, or Philippe Starck rub shoulders with original works from matali crasset and the film-maker Jérôme de Gerlache, created especially for the exhibition. Mind-blowing! has been created by the Foundation for wine culture and civilisations and guest curator Bettina Tschumi. 

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A 100% contemporary exhibition

Nearly a hundred glass exhibits produced in the past twenty years will be unveiled as from 15 March 2019 by the Foundation for wine culture and civilisations. Glass artworks, drawings, projects and performances as well as video works to explore, through the exhibition, the creative process of transformation. From sand to glass, from grape to wine, from the utilitarian object to the original work.
The bottle, the carafe or the drinking glass are therefore the starting point for a broader reflection, leading to the creative diversions of artists and designers who invent unusual and often poetic works.
By focusing on transformation and in particular glassmaking processes that combine tradition and experimentation, the exhibition also echoes the winemaker's craft, following the work of Stéphane Derenoncourt (biodynamic producer) over the course of a vintage.

Vino sospeso by matali crasset and the film by Jérôme de Gerlache

Enjoy a fluid and open tour, imbued with lightness: the elegant and radiant staging is signed by bGcstudio, Paris.
Industrialized objects rub shoulders with artworks from galleries and museums, produced in limited editions or as unique pieces, along with two original works created specifically for the exhibition:

• Unique and ethereal, the nomadic “drinking object” Vino sospeso, signed by matali crasset and produced by the CIAV glassmakers in Meisenthal, hangs from the branches of an imaginary tree, as an invitation to a tasting surrounded by nature.
• Highlighting the importance of the creative gesture, the film Saison[s], l'histoire d'une création by Jérôme de Gerlache makes the link between wine production and working with glass. It transports us over the course of a vintage alongside winemaker Stéphane Derenoncourt, and gets close up to designer matali crasset during the creation of Vino sospeso. A chance to pause and discover the five wide-format screenings that punctuate the exhibition.

First-rate artists and designers from France and abroad

Both glass and wine express an identity and research borne with sincerity and commitment by the featured designers and artists, offering visitors a unique and remarkable experience.
Nicolas Boulard, Achille Castiglioni, matali crasset, Octave de Gaulle, Fabrice Hyber, Hubert Le Gall, Arik Lévy, Beth Lipman, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Gaetano Pesce, Philippe Starck, Fabien Verschaere, and many more besides embody the expressive diversity of glass as a material through their creations. Works have been brought from the United States, Spain, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Italy to meet visitors of La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux. French creation is widely represented, in particular through a rich selection drawn from two exceptional glassworks, CIRVA (the international research centre for glass and plastic arts) in Marseille and CIAV (the international centre for glass arts) in Meisenthal.

See the full list of works

Throughout the exhibition, La Cité du Vin is offering a rich and eclectic cultural programme. Many cultural and mediation events are on offer.

Exhibition tour

SECTION 1: Functions

Containing liquids, preserving them, transporting them and serving them has always been of concern to mankind. The link between content and container is therefore as old as it is strong. After a thematic introduction to working with glass and with vines, this first part of the exhibition allows you to discover containers coming from famous factories or created by great designers.

SECTION 2: Symbols

The symbolic dimension takes precedence over use in this second part of the tour. From the religious rituals of the Mass and the Sabbath to the tasting ceremony, blood running through the veins, the vineyard work calendar... Wine and glass are often associated with many symbols and fundamental themes, explored in this section.

SECTION 3: Diversion

The creators whose works are gathered in this section have used the container in unusual ways, changing either the shape or the
meaning. Here, bottles pretend to be lamps (Arik Lévy) and decanters to be buoys. In this section, you also find the exhibit centred on the nomadic drinking object Vino sospeso, created by matali crasset for the exhibition.

SECTION 4: Images of wine

Wine, often presented as a prestige product with heritage connotations – terroir, know-how, tradition – evokes formal dinners, luxury, refinement. But when consumed to excess, it shows its dark side. This section explores both aspects by presenting, for example, the precious Beauté du Siècle case by Jean-Michel Othoniel and the glass dinner service by Fabien Verschaere, that can be seen used in a video performance, very far from the usual conventions for an elegant dinner.

Credits and legal notices

• Fabrice Hyber, Bouteille estomac, 1993, Montpellier, Collection Dolorès et Claude Bonan, © Frédéric Jaulmes, © Adagp, 2018 Paris
• matali crasset, Vino sospeso, 2018, Réalisation : Meisenthal, Centre International d’Art Verrier, Production/ collection : Fondation pour la culture et les civilisations du vin, © Photo Pascal Boudet, © Adagp Paris, 2018
• Anthony Duchêne, Verres à nez, 2015, Réalisation Centre International d’Art Verrier, Meisenthal, © Photo Jean-Christophe Lett
• Arik Levy, JAR RGB, 2013, Prague, Lasvit, © Photo Arik Levy
• Berdaguer & Pejus, Jardin d'addiction, maquette, 2011, Collection de l'artiste, © Photo Blaise Adilon, © Adagp, Paris, 2018
• Etienne Meneau, Carafe n°8, 2011, Collection de l'artiste, © Photo Etienne Meneau
• Fabien VERSCHAERE, Eat me, service de 24 pièces, 2009, Meisenthal, Centre International d'Art Verrier, © Photo Frédéric Goetz, © Adagp Paris, 2018
• Jean-Michel Othoniel, Beauté du Siècle, 2007, Cognac, Société Jas Hennessy & Co, © Photo Gilles de Beauchêne, © Adagp, Paris 2018
• Joséphine Wister Faure, Bottled, 2016, Paris, Galerie Untilthen, © Photo Emmanuel Decouard
• Beth Lipman, Still Life with Detritus, 2013, Wisconsin, Collection Racine Art Museum, Racine, Gift of the Kohler Foundation, Inc.