Stephen Burks and Marybeth Bentwood, Director of Public Relations, Kobrand Corporation, with Amadou Sow’s “Cosmic Pearls,” the latest addition to the Taittinger Artist Collection

On May 13, 2011, the Museum of Arts and Design hosted a reception to launch the installation of the group exhibition “Stephen Burks | Are You A Hybrid?” Stephen Burks, one of America’s leading industrial designers, has gathered the works of over thirty artists, designers, and photographers to create a vision of pluralism, which fosters both cultural exchange and individuality.Burks’s exhibition is a study of the intrinsic element of the developing world on contemporary design.Perhaps at first a seemingly unusual choice, Burks selected a bottle of champagne for his innovative showcase.
However, this was no average bottle of champagne.Champagne Taittinger debuted the 12^th edition of their “Taittinger Artist Collection,” which combines artistry with Champagne Taittinger’s vintage selection.This collection features one artist per year who designs a unique, artisan bottle for their champagne.This year’s edition features African artist Amadou Sow, who presented his bottle “Cosmic Pearls.”
For Burks, Sow’s bottle falls perfectly into the realm of applied art and the message of Burks’s exhibition; the bottle sustains unique form, function, and cultural fusion.“Stephen Burks | Are You A Hybrid?” is running at the Museum of Arts and Design at 2 Columbus Circle from May 3^rd to October 4^th, 2011.

An excerpt from Burks’s exhibition featuring Sow’s “Cosmic Pearls” in the lower right corner