After nearly 18 months of preparation, Italian spirit Campari made a play for the New York art scene with the launch of the House of Campari pop-up gallery in SoHo. Created to coincide with the brand's first national advertising campaign in a decade, House of Campari brought the work of 25 emerging—and competitive—New York-based visual artists together under one roof in an exhibition called "25 Bold Moves" for a two-week run of public and private viewings.
Campari is a brand relatively unknown in the U.S. whose patronage of the art world dates back more than a century. In an effort to rejuvenate Campari's image and connect with urban trendsetters, brand owner Skyy Spirits developed the House of Campari concept, which will debut at Venice Beachin Los Angeles in July and at Art Basel in Miami in December.
"When trying to blast out nationally, it was important to us to hit major markets where there are concentrated amounts of media and where there are top, top artists," said Skyy events manager Elizabeth Colton. "These are the markets that are going to garner you the most attention." Before launching the three-city tour, Skyy held a successful trial exhibit in Venice Beach last summer, and shortly thereafter preparations for the SoHo leg of the 2006 tour began.
Colton, who is based in San Francisco, visited New York with her staff six months ago to scout gallery locations. They were looking for a storefront space, in a nontraditional gallery format, in a heavy foot-traffic area. "We wanted to be in SoHo and we saw tons and tons of spaces," Colton said. "Finding exactly what we wanted was definitely more of a challenge in New York than in Los Angeles, especially when you are looking for a venue that is visible from the street and can hold a bar and a gallery." Another challenge: finding a space available for a one-month lease. Eventually Colton booked 382 West Broadway, an airy, lofted space wedged in the midst of the shops and restaurants of SoHo.
To find 25 emerging artists in each city, Colton partnered with Simon Watson and Craig Hensala of Scenic, a New York-based cultural event marketing group, to curate the exhibit. John Sideris of Sideris Creative was enlisted to blend the show with the bar and lounge, working with furniture provided by event sponsor Design Within Reach. His plan included beige tone-on-tone fabric wall treatments, bearing the word "Campari" dozens of times, in different sizes of type. "We didn't want the brand to infringe on the art," Colton said. "The branding throughout had to be very subtle. You walk away knowing that it was a Campari experience, without being hit over the head with flashy branding."
A sleek Campari bar, visible from the street, was front and center at the gallery, and featured a lit up vintage Campari poster image and a row of backlit bottles. Bartenders mixed signature cocktails, while female servers in red dresses passed out the drinks. "We wanted the event to be subtle, but at the same time, we are a spirits brand, so it is all about the spirits and cocktails," Colton said. As for the look of the Campari lounge, it will vary in each market. SoHo's lounge featured modern red wool and black leather sofas, black floors and a red shag rug, while the Los Angeles version will be more beachy and mellow, according to Colton.
Kicked off with a party sponsored by Vanity Fair, the pop-up gallery's two-week run in New York included two readings with The New Yorker, a night for bartenders and spirits distributors, and a closing party sponsored by Interview. All in all, Colton was pleased with the SoHo version of Campari's launch. "It's so difficult to host an event like this and not seem opportunistic," she said. "But Scenic has created such goodwill in the art community, and we have happy partners across the board. And as all event planners know, happy partners speak volumes about the program itself."
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Campari is a brand relatively unknown in the U.S. whose patronage of the art world dates back more than a century. In an effort to rejuvenate Campari's image and connect with urban trendsetters, brand owner Skyy Spirits developed the House of Campari concept, which will debut at Venice Beachin Los Angeles in July and at Art Basel in Miami in December.
"When trying to blast out nationally, it was important to us to hit major markets where there are concentrated amounts of media and where there are top, top artists," said Skyy events manager Elizabeth Colton. "These are the markets that are going to garner you the most attention." Before launching the three-city tour, Skyy held a successful trial exhibit in Venice Beach last summer, and shortly thereafter preparations for the SoHo leg of the 2006 tour began.
Colton, who is based in San Francisco, visited New York with her staff six months ago to scout gallery locations. They were looking for a storefront space, in a nontraditional gallery format, in a heavy foot-traffic area. "We wanted to be in SoHo and we saw tons and tons of spaces," Colton said. "Finding exactly what we wanted was definitely more of a challenge in New York than in Los Angeles, especially when you are looking for a venue that is visible from the street and can hold a bar and a gallery." Another challenge: finding a space available for a one-month lease. Eventually Colton booked 382 West Broadway, an airy, lofted space wedged in the midst of the shops and restaurants of SoHo.
To find 25 emerging artists in each city, Colton partnered with Simon Watson and Craig Hensala of Scenic, a New York-based cultural event marketing group, to curate the exhibit. John Sideris of Sideris Creative was enlisted to blend the show with the bar and lounge, working with furniture provided by event sponsor Design Within Reach. His plan included beige tone-on-tone fabric wall treatments, bearing the word "Campari" dozens of times, in different sizes of type. "We didn't want the brand to infringe on the art," Colton said. "The branding throughout had to be very subtle. You walk away knowing that it was a Campari experience, without being hit over the head with flashy branding."
A sleek Campari bar, visible from the street, was front and center at the gallery, and featured a lit up vintage Campari poster image and a row of backlit bottles. Bartenders mixed signature cocktails, while female servers in red dresses passed out the drinks. "We wanted the event to be subtle, but at the same time, we are a spirits brand, so it is all about the spirits and cocktails," Colton said. As for the look of the Campari lounge, it will vary in each market. SoHo's lounge featured modern red wool and black leather sofas, black floors and a red shag rug, while the Los Angeles version will be more beachy and mellow, according to Colton.
Kicked off with a party sponsored by Vanity Fair, the pop-up gallery's two-week run in New York included two readings with The New Yorker, a night for bartenders and spirits distributors, and a closing party sponsored by Interview. All in all, Colton was pleased with the SoHo version of Campari's launch. "It's so difficult to host an event like this and not seem opportunistic," she said. "But Scenic has created such goodwill in the art community, and we have happy partners across the board. And as all event planners know, happy partners speak volumes about the program itself."
Posted 05.10.06
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Skyy Spirits events manager Elizabeth Colton's House of Campari criteria was to find a storefront space in SoHo that had an untraditional gallery format. Colton looked at dozens of spaces before finding one that met all of her needs at 382 West Broadway. Sideris Creative was responsible for the exterior and window branding.
The House of Campari "25 Bold Moves" exhibition featured the works of 25 emerging New York artists under one roof.
The Campari lounge, located adjacent to the gallery, was furnished by Design Within Reach and functioned as an area where gallery patrons could sit, relax, and discuss the exhibition.
Subtle branding was important to the plan, so John Sideris of Sideris Creative was enlisted to create tone-on-tone fabric wall coverings bearing the Campari logo.
The chic Campari bar served as the focal point of the gallery and could be seen from the street.
