1800 Tequila has teamed up with artist Okuda San Miguel on the 10th anniversary edition of its Essential 1800 Artists Series. Through the annual series, the iconic Tequila brand uses its bottle as a canvas to bring art and culture to Tequila-lovers across the United States.
The Essential 1800 Artists Series 10th anniversary collection features six limited-edition bottles displaying original Pop Surrealism works by Okuda. His distinctive style of colorful geometric patterns featuring his signature Rainbow Skull and Kaos Star, encourages reflections of origin, destiny, and the meaning of life, hinting that time is our most precious asset. To move the experience from bottle to virtual, this year’s Essential 1800 Artists Series innovates with an AR experience that transforms each bottle into a Snapchat marker, launching a unique filter for fans to engage with Okuda-themed lenses.
“It has been an exciting challenge to design my first series of tequila bottles for this 10th anniversary of the Essential 1800 Artists Series,” says Okuda San Miguel. “I loved working with this new format, which I view as a canvas immersed in liquid. As an artist, I need to create in order to be happy and my biggest motivation is the enjoyment I get in discovery and encouraging cultural dialogue.”
San Miguel continued, “For my collaboration with 1800 Tequila, I wanted to produce work that represents my ethos as an artist. For example, my use of different colors in the skin of the characters I paint shows that we are all, in fact, equal; and the geometry represents modernity and the digital world. One of my favorite icons is the skull, a symbol of life, which is reflected on one of six of my Essential 1800 Artists Series bottles. Whether people see my work on the street, on a canvas, or on a bottle of 1800 Silver tequila, my artistic message is open to interpretation by the beholder.”
The Essential 1800 Artists Series, now in its 10th year of working with artists and their estates, such as Shantell Martin, Enoc Perez, Basquiat and Haring, creates cultural conversations by giving artists an alternative canvas to reach new audiences, turning limited-edition bottles of 1800 Silver Tequila into collector’s items. This year, 1800 Tequila debuted a 30-second film showcasing Okuda’s artworks in various neighborhoods of New York City, highlighting how art is born from the streets and transforms through time.
Coming in at 40% ABV, bottles of the Essential 1800 Artists Series 10th anniversary collection can be purchased on Reserve Bar for $34.