Marina Abramović Interprets Ornellaia 2023 "La Vitalità"
As part of the 18th edition of Vendemmia d'Artista, a Salmanazar and a selection of large-format bottles adorned with artistic labels will be auctioned online by Bonhams from June 11 to 23, with proceeds supporting the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.
The 18th edition of the Vendemmia d'Artista project welcomes another leading figure from the international art world to the Ornellaia gallery. Renowned contemporary artist Marina Abramović has been entrusted with interpreting Ornellaia 2023 "La Vitalità" and artistically expressing the character of the vintage.
To do so, starting with a vintage that fully expresses the generative power of Ornellaia's terroir, Abramović explores the theme of the self, understood as an act of awareness and determination in capturing one's own image. While the body has always been central to the artist's research, for Ornellaia she chose to portray herself in a process of transformation, continually redefining the boundary between art and life.
At the heart of the project is a self-portrait in the guise of Medusa, a mythological figure that the artist reinterprets through a contemporary key. In Abramović's version, the snakes, formed by bunches of grapes, transform threat into abundance and fear into vital energy. The work created for Vendemmia d'Artista reflects on the capacity for regeneration through art, rediscovering strength and vitality.
"When I began this project, I started with drawing the raw materials: grapes. I surrounded my face with bunches, and suddenly the vivid green of the leaves and the deep black of the berries began to vibrate. A vital force, petals of energy blooming from the mind," explains Marina Abramović
For the label featured on the 750ml bottle, Marina-Medusa is portrayed as a simple drawing, while her face, almost entirely surrounded by bunches of grapes, is depicted on the labels of the 100 three-liter bottles.
From drawing to photography, Abramović's interpretation evolves further in the 10 Imperials (6 liters), where she appears as Medusa, with braided hair and copious bunches of grapes cascading around her neck in a display of life and movement. Through a progression of images, her face is gradually concealed by the grapes until only one eye remains visible in the final frame. The gaze captivates the viewer, transforming the self-portrait into an intense visual experience, in which every detail pulsates with energy and fully celebrates the theme of the vintage: vitality.
The iconic Salmanazar (9 liters) is conceived as a multisensory experience. The bottle is topped with a conical red candle inspired by Abramović's artworks Energy Hat, which can be lit.
"In the vineyard, every stage of the vegetative cycle describes a process of transformation. Patience is essential and, at times, is timeliness. Marina Abramović has captured this energy. She has looked at us and involved us all, turning our work into art," says Lamberto Frescobaldi, President. "We are very proud of this collaboration and to share it with all Ornellaia wine lovers through the artist-designed labels of the various formats of the 2023 vintage."
Only 14 lots, including the Imperials and Salmanazar, designed by Abramovic, will be offered through Bonhams, one of the world's oldest and most prestigious auction houses. The online auction will take place at www.bonhams.com/ornellaia2023 from June 11-23, 2026.
In continuation with the collaboration established eight years ago, Ornellaia will donate all proceeds to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in support of Guggenheim Pop: 1960 to Now, on view at the museum in New York from June 2026 to January 2027. Ornellaia's contribution will help support the conservation and restoration of works included in the exhibition in order to continue to "make art accessible to everyone for as long as possible," concludes Lamberto Frescobaldi.