PURCHASE, N.Y. — Today, LIFEWTR, a premium water brand committed to advancing and showcasing sources of creativity, announced a wide-ranging, multi-faceted global partnership with Frieze as the Official Global Water and Emerging Program Partner.
“LIFEWTR is committed to advancing emerging artists in everything we do and we are excited to be partnering with Frieze to deliver on our shared purpose to support creativity in a meaningful way,” said Olga Osminkina, Vice President, Hydration & Innovation, Global Beverage Group, PepsiCo.
Amanda Sharp, co-founder Frieze, said: “It’s wonderful to see brands interacting with art and supporting artists. For 27 years Frieze has promoted the most interesting artists in Frieze Magazine and at Frieze Art Fairs and we are always looking for innovative ways to enhance the work that galleries do to support artist careers. Collaborations like Frieze and LIFEWTR have the potential to create new opportunities for emerging artists and bring their work to a huge new audience.”
This newly formed global partnership begins at Frieze New York, with LIFEWTR unveiling its latest design series, Art Beyond Borders. The brand’s fifth series highlights artists who are inspired by multiple cultures and showcases artwork that embraces intersections of culture – from languages and travels to experiences and commonalities – creating a curious and open-minded dialogue to bridge divides, uniting people around the world.
The Art Beyond Borders Series provides a canvas to expose cross-cultural perspectives and leverage art as a medium to spark and foster understanding and unity, with the work of three artists, Laercio Redondo, AIKO and Yinka Ilori:
- Laercio Redondo – A Brazilian-born artist who brings Latin influences to his Nordic-based work engages with culture’s collective memory and its impact on society. His work is often based on the interpretation of specific events in relation to a city, its architecture and its historical representation.
- AIKO – Born and raised in Tokyo before moving to NYC, she is recognized in the art world as one of the most exciting emerging artists. Her large-scale works, which unite Western and Eastern cultures, are installed in many cities around the world.
- Yinka Ilori – Based in London, Ilori is an artist and designer who focuses on revitalizing and reinterpreting vintage furniture, inspired by the traditional Nigerian parables and African fabrics that surrounded his childhood looking to connect people throughout the world through the storytelling of his work.
The LIFEWTR Series 5 bottles are now available in the U.S. in four sizes: 20oz (NEW) 500ml (NEW), 700mL and 1L, as well as multipacks. For more information please visit www.LIFEWTR.com.
Frieze New York
The LIFEWTR x Frieze partnership begins with a robust activation at Frieze New York, May 4– 6, where LIFEWTR will host two engaging talks around the theme of Art Beyond Borders in the LIFEWTR Lounge. Derek Blasberg, writer, host of CNN Style and Vanity Fair’s ‘Man on the Street,’ will moderate a discussion with artists Yinka Ilori, Chloe Wise and curator Isolde Brielmaier. Alyse Archer-Coité, Director of Culture and Programming at A/D/O, will moderate a discussion with artists Raul De Nieves, Tschabalala Self and Jordan Nassar.
As part of the partnership, The LIFEWTR Fund will return to Frieze New York this year, supporting the acquisition of a significant work for the Brooklyn Museum. Launched in 2017, the fund made possible the Museum’s acquisition of Untitled (1971) by Virginia Jaramillo, a work currently featured in the international touring exhibition, “Soul of A Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power.” The LIFEWTR Fund will enable the Museum to apply a total of $100,000 to purchase a work from the fair for its permanent collection. The esteemed 2018 selection panel, including the Brooklyn Museum’s Shelby White and Leon Levy Director, Anne Pasternak; Deputy Director & Chief Curator, Jennifer Chi; along with curators Eugenie Tsai, Catherine Morris, Ashley James and Carmen Hermo, will visit the fair on May 2, with their decision announced later that day. The fund is chaired and organized by Osminkina.
Additionally, the family of more than 15 LIFEWTR artists from around the world from the brand’s Series 1 – 5 will attend Frieze New York to experience a range of highly-curated, immersive advancement programming.