US-ABMB Art-Tenders

Posted by aolvera@casadragones.com BigCommerce on 16th Dec 2023

December 2023

For a third consecutive year, we continue our widely popular Art-Tender Series at the Casa Dragones Tasting Room at the Collectors Lounge. Each day, Art-Tenders — guest bartenders that include a roster of artists and art world luminaries — act as guest mixologists and craft original cocktails inspired by their practice.

 

Discover the roster of this year’s Art-Tenders and watch the series behind our bar on our Instagram page.

MILES GREENBERG

Born in Montreal, Canada, Miles Greenberg has established himself as a prominent New York-based performance artist and sculptor. His unique approach involves creating large-scale, sensorially immersive, and site-specific environments that revolve around the physical body in space. Greenberg's installations come to life through extreme durational performances that transform the body into sculptural material. These performances are then captured in real time, resulting in video works and sculptures.

 

Miles created a cocktail, cryptically named "«MG_CD_1.ccktl»," that starts out simple, but evolves over time, featuring a black ice cube that, when melted, changes both the color and flavor of the drink.

ROBERT JANITZ

Robert Janitz's artistic journey led him to study Ethnology, Comparative Religion, Indology, and Art History at the Philipps University in Marburg, Germany. Janitz is renowned for his large abstract paintings, utilizing oil in combination with wax and flour on a monochrome background. His unique technique, incorporating unconventional materials, creates a textured and layered visual experience that invites viewers to explore the interplay of form and substance.

 

Robert created a lavender-colored cocktail with added spice, hence the name "Triple Scorpio." Inspired by Mexico and its flavors, he added a few drops of the aromatic Hierba Santa.

HARLAND MILLER

Harland Miller, an artist and writer, has been characterized by his polychromatic and graphically vernacular paintings. Hailing from Northern England, Miller infuses his work with irreverent humor and a deep appreciation for language. His creations synthesize references from high and low culture, drawing inspiration from literature, music, self-help manuals, and medieval iconography.

 

All Night Meteorite is his solo exhibition of paintings, currently on display at White Cube Gallery West Palm Beach. The exhibition’s titular work, All Night Meteorite (2023) resonates with the cadence of a song lyric, melodically reverberating, as Miller describes, like ‘a chorus, disembodied from the verses’. For his Art-Tender session, he created a cocktail inspired by the themes and colors of this show, naming it "All Night Meteorite." 

lee quiñones

Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Lee Quiñones is celebrated as one of the most influential artists to emerge from the New York City subway art movement. Quiñones began his artistic journey by painting on the city's streets and subway cars in the 1970s, leaving an indelible mark on the contemporary art world. As one of the originators of street art, Quiñones' work is characterized by provocative socio-political content and intricate composition. After adorning over 100 subway cars throughout the MTA system, he transitioned to a studio-based practice, contributing to the movement's shift above ground.

 

His cocktail, named "Green Light," is inspired by the expression to "green light" something, or give the project a go-ahead. Lee is inspired to "green-light" projects he thinks are positive, such as his collaboration with Tequila Casa Dragones.

BONY RAMIREZ

Bony Ramirez's art reflects a deep connection to his Dominican heritage, seamlessly blending elements of the Caribbean with distinctive details. Ramirez employs a unique technique, adhering life-size paper figures onto painted wood panels, creating mixed-medium portraits that capture contemporary Caribbean life and its underlying European colonialist history. His expanded practice incorporates new materials such as wallpaper, swords, and rhinestones, adding physical and allegorical depth to his narratives.

 

Bony created a pink cocktail inspired by his work, "Cayman Tears." Cayman Tears offers a comprehensive introduction to Bony Ramirez’s practice and a rare window into Caribbean life, and this is reflected in his tropical, frozen strawberry cocktail.

ILANA SAVDIE

Ilana Savdie delves into themes of performance, transgression, identity, and power in her vibrant, large-scale paintings. Her canvases, characterized by finely detailed, fluid compositions, burst with vibrant colors that merge and blend, challenging traditional notions of identity. Savdie’s paintings aim to dismantle ideas of binary or fixed identity, and to embrace the notion of performance as a transformative tool.

 

Ilana was interested in the idea of a venus fly trap for its bait-and-switch seductive qualities. Because of this, her cocktail "Venus Fly Trap" has a kick to it, a surprise flavor of lychee, and a rambutan garnish that represents the venus fly trap itself.

PEDRO TRONCOSO

Pedro Troncoso, born in the Dominican Republic and based in New York, is a visual artist with a unique trajectory. Initially studying aviation, Troncoso found himself drawn to the arts, exploring how stereotypes, expectations, and social norms impact adult identity. Troncoso's paintings serve as a visual exploration of societal expectations and their impact on individual identity.

 

One of the symbols in Pedro's current show is the lion, a ferocious creature that is known to intimidate people. Pedro was inspired to craft a cocktail that reflected this work, creating the "Sleeping Lion," which as he believes, is based on the fact that we all have a sleeping lion inside of us that can emerge at any time.

ALLISON ZUCKERMAN

Allison Zuckerman has become a prominent figure in the contemporary art scene, living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Her approach to art draws from the records of art history and the imagery of net culture, with a focus on the representation of women by male authors. Zuckerman's paintings, composed of collaged elements painted over, present colorful figures and fragments, creating intricate connections between disparate cultural symbols and motifs.

 

Inspired by a spicy cucumber margarita, Allison incorporated cucumber, jalapeños, and chili powder on her cocktail. She came up with the name "Spicy Cuki" when she first tasted it, adding a bit of quirkiness to the concept, which is also reflected in her artwork.