Coca Cola is celebrating 100 years of the Coca Cola bottle with “Kiss The Past Hello”, a collection of art works collated in a book, “Kiss The Past Hello” and a travelling exhibition. Artists from around the globe were invited to put their own spin on the bottle. Some of the submitted pieces are included in a coffee-table book printed by Assouline, Kiss the Past Hello, along with classic Coca-Cola-inspired art, and essays by Stephen Bayley, Ted Ryan, and James Sommerville. The exhibition has been launched at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the home town of Coca Cola. The show features more than 15 pieces of work from Andy Warhol (including two Coke bottle paintings), a photo display and an interactive display of 1,000 3-D printed bottles suspended from the ceiling. A traveling exhibit, launched in Johannesburg, South Africa, will showcase a collection of 20 pieces of art and some interactive components.
A new exhibit opening at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta explores the iconic design and creative legacy of the Coca-Cola bottle. Presented on the occasion of the bottle’s centennial, the exhibition features more than 100 objects, including 15+ works of art by Andy Warhol and more than 40 photographs inspired by or featuring the bottle. As visitors enter the exhibition gallery in the first-floor lobby, they can interact with more than 500 contemporary 3-D printed bottles suspended from the ceiling that reference the Coca-Cola bottle’s iconic design. Watch as representatives from Coca-Cola and the High bring this part of the exhibit to life.
Foreword by Stephen Bayley
One of the most famous and unmistakable shapes in the world since its introduction in 1915, the Coca-Cola bottle is an influential symbol of design, art, and culture. Identified by its iconic contour fluted lines and described by noted industrial designer, Raymond Loewy as the “perfect liquid wrapper,” the bottle has been celebrated and revered in such mediums as art, music and advertising. From representations as a symbol of mass culture expressed by greats like Andy Warhol and Clive Barker to serving as a reference point for industry influencers such as Volkswagen who compared the shape of the Beetle to the bottle, the Coca-Cola bottle has been a benchmark for the past hundred years. What began as a design brief: to create a bottle that could be identified in the dark or lying broken on the ground, today is one of the most recognized packages on the planet. Published on the occasion of the bottle’s centennial, Kiss the Past Hello is a vibrant collection of images and art celebrating the Coca-Cola bottle not only as an icon of design but as a symbol of optimism, happiness, and the shared moments in our lives.