At the inaugural “London Food Month,” something special happened at the Night Market Festival in Kensington Palace Gardens. Bulleit Whiskey partnered with some of London’s most creative and inspiring minds bringing together four different styles to the same canvas, with only black ink for a collective piece of art. The final Bulleit Mural masterpiece details the London skyline with street art styles in West and East London respectively.
The artists were hand-picked from a range of disciplines, including a tattooist, an illustrator and graffiti and street artists. Bulleit Whiskey brought these creative artists together to curate a point of engagement and wonder for visitors, chefs and VIPs. Drawing it all freehand, Mr Cenz, Inkie, Rose Harley and Robin Mackney created an invigorating piece of London art. In front of a live audience the artists showcased their creative frontier, displayed what keeps pushing them to go beyond, break boundaries and extend the limit of their craft.
About the artists who participated in this live mural…
Mr Cenz is considered one of London’s top three graffiti artists, exhibiting at high profile shows in London and abroad. His work features layers of intricate and flowing letterforms and abstract, unique lines resulting in captivating and mysterious designs with an ethereal feel.
Inkie is a British graffiti artist who is famously credited with inventing ‘Ink Nouveau’. Inkie adopts a more traditional style of graffiti, featuring bold letters and designs that stand out and make a statement. Inkie is cited as being part of Bristol’s graffiti heritage, along with Banksy, 3D and Nick Walker.
Rose Harley is a pioneering female tattooist working out of her hip East London studio Vagabond. Rose is renowned for pushing boundaries through her eye-catching designs and clean cut lines.
Robin Mackney who is an illustrator based in Cambridge, UK creates unique, stylised hand-drawn illustrations, drawing inspiration from architecture and famous city skylines.
With the live art mural taking place in the background, I had a chance to sit down with Bulleit Brand Ambassador Joe Tivey and ask him a few questions about this exhilarating piece of art.
– Firstly, as an award winning bartender then becoming Brand Ambassador for Bulleit Whiskey, what has inspired you to get street artists, a tattoo artist and an illustrator to make this one-off Bulleit Mural?
Bulleit is based on an idea of community and what the US team has done in terms of engaging key influencers and people who bring something different to the table has been great. Last year, Bulleit created the world’s largest tattoo collaboration — the Frontier Works Project, which was a 32 foot tattoo billboard. The incredible piece of art brought together in Los Angeles acted as our inspiration to bring together four incredible artists and showcase London’s cultural frontier. Live drawing is a great concept and it is achieving great results today. I am confident in the renowned artists we have on board because they believe in the brand and understand the concept that the cultural frontier isn’t a physical place but a shared purpose among people who are constantly pushing boundaries. Inspired by Tom Bulleit, the founder, his pioneering spirit has brought together a series of collaborations with cultural creators and I’m proud to be a part of this project during London Food Month.
– Any particular reason you have chosen to do a collaborative piece with mixed background artists rather than one artist who’s style you like?
To bring in a person who is already doing great work on his own or who is considered the best in the industry would be just an easy way to do it. Why not offer a unique opportunity to four people to express themselves? That is what this is all about — expressing yourself. It’s not about what you do, it’s about how you do it. The whole concept of having one huge collaborative tattoo was a phenomenal idea and it works so well, but I think you can build on it immensely. In London we wanted to showcase a variety of disciplines that are at the artistic forefront of our pioneering city, such as graffiti and street art. The team here today had been working together to build an inspirational piece of art that incorporates all of their varying styles, displaying their creative Frontier and using London as a focal point and I think it’s particularly impressive that the entire showcase is being completed live in front of an audience.
– I have seen Bulleit activity on Frontier Works, I also know that Bulleit whiskey is very special whiskey and likes to stick with minimalistic labeling on their bottles. In the future, what do you think about an artist collaborating and creating some kind of artwork for the bottle? A good example would be KAWS x Hennessy S. Cognac where they created limited edition bottles with different labels on them, each of the bottles were carrying their very own number.
Bulleit has a modest label and we allow for the liquid to speak for itself. That doesn’t mean to say that we would never collaborate with an artist for a limited edition collection of Bulleit bottles. We would of course ensure that any artist embodies our brand ethos, like our artists at the Bulleit Mural, at the launch of the Night Market. Watch this space!
– How long have you been interested in art?
Quite a long time. My degree is in design and photography, which is perfect because I am very much hands-on and very vocational; I like to make things happen. I like to take the time and appreciate things for what they are-the look, the feel, the taste. I chose art in secondary school (if it wasn’t art, it would have been geography) and then I went to university and studied graphic design and photography. I still remember the day my father came with me to sixth form as we were looking for prospective colleges. We went into the photography department and something clicked. I looked at the photography and thought to myself, “I like this…I like this a lot.” For me photography worked well in the creative aspect, sadly, graphic design wise not so much.
I believe I have a creative vocation, which I have been able to channel within my love for drinks and hospitality. I have been lucky enough that being the Brand Ambassador for Bulleit Whiskey has allowed me to use my creativity to make some incredible cocktails and serve consumers in some of the world’s best bars.
– Anything you would like to add about this event and gathering artists for such a unique piece of art?
Purely, I’m just really proud of it. I think this is a great and solid concept, however to see it cross the line is purely amazing… I had the idea, but I could never execute it without my friends who work in the business. So many moving parts and our team is so committed and passionate about the project, all with huge passion and such belief in the brand because they love the liquid – I think that speaks volumes and really makes me proud of this.
Check out some more images and a video of this live mural in action below and thanks to Bulleit for having me and don’t forget to visit Bulleit Frontier Works to see the previous work of Bulleit!
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