Maisons Ruinart launches Carte Blanche 2024, a unique “Conversations with Nature” project from a diverse collective of artists, each with a solid connection to nature. These artists from different continents and cultures reflect upon the fragile and complex bond between humanity and the environment.
Part of this visual research will be presented during Frieze London, between October 9 and 13, 2024, at the Ruinart Art Bar, with projects headed by Marcus Coates and Henrique Oliveira.
After nearly three centuries, Ruinart has celebrated a unique relationship with nature, epitomised by its process for making champagne. Since its foundation, Ruinart, the pioneering champagne house, has been committed to preserving ecological balance and taking from the Earth for the birth of each cuvée. The wine of champagne, water, light, and Earth united in this process play the leading role; each bottle proves how the seasons run in their circle. In this concord with nature, one finds Ruinart’s philosophy: to pay attention to every small detail, taking care of its sustainability.
In 2024, this commitment to nature is brought to life by a collective artistic movement. In this case, the artists selected by Maison Ruinart launch a dialogue with nature at the height of poignancy for humanity, which has started to face climate and environmental changes on a wide scale. Each piece in Carte Blanche 2024 will be exhibited throughout several art fairs worldwide before returning to the permanent display at Ruinart’s historic site in Reims, France, precisely at four rue des Crayères.
It touches upon the emotional sensitivity of the planet’s beauty and fragility, pressing action against such issues created by the Anthropocene—the geological era in which human beings are the current dominant force shaping the face of the Earth. Carte Blanche 2024 brings together the following artists’ collective: Andrea Bowers, Los Angeles, USA; Marcus Coates, Europe; Thijs Biersteker, Europe; Pascale Marthine Tayou, Belgium and Cameroon; Henrique Oliveira, London and São Paulo; Tomoko Sauvage, Paris and Tokyo.
Each artist represented will contribute to environmental matters, and this multivocal contribution will render the subject dynamic. Their works encompass an enormous range of media-from paintings and sculptures to sound installations and interactive arts. Opening this debate about nature to all, the Carte Blanche project invites myriad voices and artistic expression.
The Artists’ Garden in Reims will host a selection of works proving Ruinart’s commitment to environmental protection and enhancing its deep and continued conversation with nature. As Frédéric Panaïotis, Ruinart’s cellar master, puts it, the aim is to speak of nature and converse with it, considering that all living things are essential contributors to this conversation.
Among them is Marcus Coates, whose artistic practice deals with human-nature relations. His Nature Calendar installation at Ruinart Taissy Vineyard captures daily natural events, from the blooming of flowers to the migrations of birds and the life cycles of insects. This ephemeral calendar, materialised by flags raised daily, denotes happenings often invisible in the ecosystem. Coates’ work is a tribute to the nonhuman world and echoes Ruinart’s continuous commitment to biodiversity.
His project will also be compiled into a limited-edition publication, emphasising the importance of listening and learning from nature.
The other famous artist who will also feature in the Carte Blanche 2024 is Andrea Bowers; her work is greatly impregnated with activism, especially on climate justice. Her practice links art to civil disobedience and political activism; such was the case with her previous works regarding forests. In collaboration with Ruinart, Bowers has designed a tree branch-shaped steel sculpture with neon leaves made from recycled glass. It speaks to an invitation to her activism and memorialises trees torn down during protests. Neon-lit branches will display a quote by pioneering ecofeminist Françoise d’Eaubonne that is aligned with Ruinart’s commitment to sustainability in nature protection.
Pascale Marthine Tayou’s proposal is one of the monumental works, his dream of harvesting a vineyard inspired; his over five-meter-high sculpture will depict a tree whose trunk takes the form of antlers with translucent glass spheres for grapes. The work reflects the beauty of nature and refers to Ruinart’s commitment to ecological restoration, especially its efforts at regenerating forests around the Taissy vineyard.
Thijs Biersteker is an artist whose practice often deals with ecology linked with technology in collaboration with scientists. He creates interactive works of art that underscore urgent environmental issues. Using sensors in Xylemia, he recorded the flow of tree sap in real time, symbolising the most critical processes running within trees. This installation underlines how all living beings are connected and resonates with Ruinart’s commitment to scientific research in viticulture and climate change.
Henrique Oliveira represents one more original view of Carte Blanche 2024 with his in-situ sculptures made out of recycled materials. His creation for Ruinart will be a lifelike sculpture of a real-sized treeze in recycled plywood and papier-mâché, held by a metal structure. It will be sited in the courtyard of Ruinart’s headquarters in Reims and features labyrinthine branches that reference those vines above ground and the jungle of chalk pits below, where Ruinart’s champagne is aged. Oliveira’s work insists on recycling as his prime preoccupation and looks to the history of the Champagne region, shaped by its chalk-rich soil.
Tomoko Sauvage is another contributor to Carte Blanche 2024, for whom music and sound art innovation has become a signature. Using water-filled porcelain bowls and hydrophones, Sauvage creates ethereal soundscapes. She marinates the transformational properties of natural elements, such as water, within her work. Thus, fluidity and linkages are oft-recurring themes in her work, just as the fragile balance between control and randomness in nature occurs in the process of making champagne.
One can experience these conversations with nature for oneself at Frieze London in the Ruinart Art Bar. The thought-provoking artistic works can be paired with a glass of Ruinart’s finest champagnes: R de Ruinart, Blanc de Blancs, Rosé, and Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2010.
The Carte Blanche 2024 collection is not only an exhibition; it’s a call to action to reconsider our relationship with nature and make a relevant gesture toward sustainable development. It is with the language of art.
Top Photo: Courtesy Ruinart Carte Blanche Artist Henrique Oliveira ©Alice Jacquemin