dom pérignon x jean michel basquiat | collaboration launch in berlin
Dom Pérignon brought a slice of New York’s electric art scene to the heart of Berlin with a dazzling celebration honouring the legendary Jean-Michel Basquiat. On 15 October, the penthouse of the Boros Collection in Berlin-Mitte was transformed into a vibrant artist’s studio, where guests from the worlds of art, culture, and showbiz gathered for an unforgettable evening.
At the centre of this stylish affair was the German debut of Dom Pérignon’s Special Edition Vintage 2015, inspired by Basquiat’s bold artistic legacy. With a design featuring his iconic three-pronged crown, merged with the Dom Pérignon shield, the bottle is a striking tribute to the late artist’s distinctive energy and creativity. The label incorporates Basquiat’s 1983 work In Italian, blending tradition with the rebellious spirit of contemporary art – a fitting homage to both the artist and the champagne house’s commitment to excellence.
For its 2025 artist collaboration, Ruinart partners with Julian Charrière, a Franco-Swiss artist whose work explores the intersections of time, geology, and human impact. Known for blending scientific research with poetic storytelling, Charrière challenges how we perceive nature — not as something separate from us, but as a force constantly shaped by human history and intervention. Conversations with Nature brings this perspective to Ruinart’s terroir, transforming the Champagne house’s deep connection to the land into an artistic dialogue that spans millennia.
Ruinart’s selection of Charrière is a natural fit. The Maison has long been at the forefront of sustainability in winemaking, from regenerative viticulture to eco-designed packaging. Charrière’s work adds another layer, questioning how human activity reshapes the environment and what it means to engage with nature in a time of ecological urgency. “At the heart of my work lies the notion of encounter — an intimate dialogue with place, biome, and environment. These moments are not mere observations but exchanges, where landscape and presence intertwine, shaping one another in a quiet, reciprocal conversation,” he explains.
Champagne’s limestone-rich soil holds traces of an ancient sea that once covered much of Europe. Forty-five million years ago, the region was submerged under the Lutetian Sea, a vast marine world whose fossilised remains still shape the land. The chalk pits (crayères) beneath Ruinart’s vineyards are ghostly echoes of this past, a reminder that landscapes are never static — they carry the memory of deep geological time.
Charrière pays tribute to this lost ocean while reflecting on the fragile state of today’s marine ecosystems. His Conversations with Nature series includes a collection of photo lithographs capturing coral reefs — luminous, living structures that mirror the prehistoric marine forests that once thrived beneath Champagne. Using a 19th-century lithographic process, Charrière reimagines these corals through pigments sourced from locally collected limestone and crushed corals. The muted, pale tones evoke the fading vitality of these ecosystems, suggesting both the resilience of nature and its vulnerability in the face of environmental change.
Beyond these prints, Charrière transforms Ruinart’s crayères into an immersive installation. At 4 Rue des Crayères, a subterranean vault becomes an echo chamber where the memory of the Lutetian Sea collides with the imperilled frequencies of today’s coral reefs.
Unlike a traditional gallery exhibition, Conversations with Nature is designed as a multi-sensory experience. Through large-scale installations, geological textures, and soundscapes, Charrière invites viewers to engage with Champagne’s terroir in a way that goes beyond observation. The collaboration reinforces Ruinart’s vision of Champagne as a product of time, landscape, and human ingenuity.
Charrière’s artworks will debut at Art Basel Hong Kong from 28–30 March, before traveling to Miart, Berlin Gallery Weekend, Art Basel Basel, Frieze Seoul, and Art Basel Paris. The installation at 4 Rue des Crayères will open in June 2025, offering an ongoing meditation on the deep time embedded in the landscape of Champagne.
Fabien Vallérian
International Director of Arts & Culture
at Maison Ruinart
photography. Alice Jacquemin
Fabien Vallérian
International Director of Arts & Culture
at Maison Ruinart
photography. Alice Jacquemin
Credits
Each year, Ruinart’s cultural program in Reims—the heart of Champagne’s winemaking tradition—invites leading contemporary artists with a strong ecological perspective. Within this rich setting of fine wine, Gothic heritage, and thought-provoking dialogue, artists not only immerse themselves in Ruinart’s storied history but also engage deeply with pressing environmental topics such as climate change and biodiversity. It’s why it’s important to the International Arts & Culture Director of La Maison Ruinart, Fabien Vallérian, to collaborate with some of the most innovative artists addressing environmental issues today. He firmly believes that “Artists are key ambassadors to drive change.” Since joining Ruinart in 2018, he has spearheaded artist commissions, forged partnerships with museums and galleries, and expanded the brand’s presence at 30 major international art fairs across Europe, Asia, and the U.S., including Art Basel and Frieze.
“We inhabit the earth like we own it, taking too much from the ecosystems without them able to renew themselves,” states Vallérian. “Artists are here to show us the beauty of a true relationship to nature and warn us against our endless search for more possessions and exploitation.”As part of this edition of Schön! alive, we turned to the expert to curate a lineup of visionary artists— Bianca Bondi, Florencia Sadir, Victoire Inchauspé, and Daniel Steegmann-Mangrané. The four are pioneering creatives whose distinctive artistic voices captivated Fabien Vallérian. “From the craftsmanship of Victoire Inchauspé to the mysteries of alchemy created by Bianca Bondi, these artists show us that we can learn from fauna and flora and interact with our environment in a way that is not harmful or dominant”, explains Vallérian. “They are at the vanguard of a sheer sensitivity which emerged from their new generation.”
Through biomorphic sculptures and organic installations, each artist inspires audiences with urgent, thought-provoking messages. What stands out most to Vallérian is their commitment to understanding and safeguarding the natural world. They make “nature understandable and approachable, not distant or abstract,” he explains. “I believe in the visions of these artists to create emotions and to convey a powerful message and change our behaviours. Art has the power and the desire to help save the planet and humanity.”
Read snippets of our chats with Bianca Bondi, Florencia Sadir, Victoire Inchauspé, and Daniel Steegmann-Mangrané and check out the full interviews in issue one of Schön! alive, available now.
Chef d’OEuvre #5 ‘Crayère’ + Chef d’OEuvre #6 ‘Bassin’.
by Eva Jospin, 2022.
for the Carte Blanche PROMENADE(S)
Chef d’OEuvre #5 ‘Crayère’ + Chef d’OEuvre #6 ‘Bassin’.
by Eva Jospin, 2022.
for the Carte Blanche PROMENADE(S)
Credits
La nuit, le jour, la nuit.
by Victoire Inchauspé, 2024
From the exhibition Une chambre à soi,
curated by Margaux Plessy,
Château La Coste, France
Courtesy of the artist
photography. Victoire Inchauspé
Nothing/Everything to Remember.
by Victoire Inchauspé, 2024
Installation created for the 17th Biennale
of Lyon, France
Courtesy of the artist
photography. Blandine Soulage
La nuit, le jour, la nuit.
by Victoire Inchauspé, 2024
From the exhibition Une chambre à soi,
curated by Margaux Plessy,
Château La Coste, France
Courtesy of the artist
photography. Victoire Inchauspé
Nothing/Everything to Remember.
by Victoire Inchauspé, 2024
Installation created for the 17th Biennale
of Lyon, France
Courtesy of the artist
photography. Blandine Soulage
Credits
Victoire Inchauspé’s sculptures and installations explore themes of life, death, strength, and fragility, drawing deeply from nature and personal memory. Raised in a small Basque village, she was the youngest-ever finalist for the SAM Prize for Contemporary Art at the Palais de Tokyo in 2022, the same year she graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris. Her work, recognized with multiple awards, resonates widely due to its introspective nature and emotional depth.
Inspired by her late mother, an art teacher, Inchauspé integrates childhood memories of wildlife—deer, spiders, bees, and sunflowers—into her art, creating a dialogue between the fleeting and the enduring. “She taught us to value creativity as a way of understanding the world,” Inchauspé recalls. “Her presence in my life was a guiding force.” She uses materials like wax and salt to symbolize rituals and light, while bronze preserves delicate flora in a timeless state. Her recent works include Nothing/Everything to Remember, showcased at the 17th Lyon Biennale, featuring a bronze sunflower and a wax boat inspired by ancient rites.
At its core, Inchauspé’s art invites audiences to slow down, reconnect with nature, and reflect on the transient yet enduring aspects of life. Her ability to evoke deep emotional responses is what she finds most fulfilling, particularly when viewers find comfort and inspiration in her work. She creates spaces for reflection through poetic and tactile expressions, encouraging a renewed sensitivity to both personal memories and the natural world.
Victoire Inchauspé
Victoire Inchauspé
Credits
Bianca Bondi.
image. Courtesy of Bianca Bondi
Bianca Bondi.
image. Courtesy of Bianca Bondi
Credits
“It started with magic,” says Bianca Bondi, an artist and environmental activist, who creates ethereal sculptures and site-specific installations infused with mysticism and a deep reverence for nature. Inspired by occult traditions and artists like Hieronymus Bosch and Leonora Carrington, her work blends magic with ecological awareness, incorporating crystallized surfaces, moss, plants, and dried herbs. Originally from South Africa, Bondi initially aspired to be a pilot, but her passion for science and geography ultimately shaped her artistic practice. Her works, such as Astral Ponds—crystallized pools immersed in chemical solutions—and plant-infused installations, reflect both her scientific background and her belief in nature’s transformative power. A lifelong fascination with Wicca has further influenced her approach, reinforcing her commitment to environmental activism.
Themes of life, death, and preservation are central to her art. Profoundly affected by the loss of her father at a young age, Bondi turned to ritual and spirituality to explore the continuity of existence. This philosophy extends to her ongoing collaboration with the Covid Foundation, which envisions submerging a whale-shaped sculpture in a marine sanctuary as a statement on ocean degradation. Inspired by her 2021 piece The Rise and Fall, which depicted the natural phenomenon of Whale Fall, the project aims to become an evolving underwater ecosystem.
Currently in residence at Villa Medici in Rome, Bondi remains dedicated to “rewilding” industrial spaces through her work. Her pieces captivate with their dazzling colours and crystals, yet upon closer inspection, they reveal organic decay and transformation. This interplay of beauty and entropy invites viewers to confront nature’s cycles, evoking both wonder and urgency in the face of environmental change. “When they look closer, they realise that these crystals and colours are coagulating or seeping,” Bondi reveals. “This can inspire feelings of attraction and repulsion; unveiling the true harmony of nature.”
Scrying in Astral Ponds
[Haciendo vaticinios en estanques astrales]
Installation by Bianca Bondi, 2024
La Casa Encendida,
curated by Pakui Hardware collective
courtesy. La Casa Encendida
photography. Maru Serrano
Scrying in Astral Ponds
[Haciendo vaticinios en estanques astrales]
Installation by Bianca Bondi, 2024
La Casa Encendida,
curated by Pakui Hardware collective
courtesy. La Casa Encendida
photography. Maru Serrano
Credits
Where the wind is born.
by Florencia Sadir, 2023
Open air drawings. Engraved clay tiles.
Site-specific installation CIMAM
Post-Conference Salta Tour Cafayate,
Argentina. Ivana Salfitty, Cecilia Lutufyan.
Where the wind is born.
by Florencia Sadir, 2023
Open air drawings. Engraved clay tiles.
Site-specific installation CIMAM
Post-Conference Salta Tour Cafayate,
Argentina. Ivana Salfitty, Cecilia Lutufyan.
Credits
Florencia Sadir
photography. Pablo Masino
Florencia Sadir
photography. Pablo Masino
Credits
Argentinian artist Florencia Sadir draws from the traditions and sustainable practices of her homeland, Valles Calchaquíes, crafting sculptures, installations, and drawings that connect deeply with the San Carlos community where she lives and works. Using natural materials like clay and vegetable fibres, she bridges the relationship between human production and the environment, creating works that critique capitalist excess while celebrating ancestral ways of living.
Her minimalist, earth-based artworks serve as both conversation starters and reflections on the fragile balance between nature and human influence. Exhibiting globally, including at the Aichi Triennial in Japan, Sadir highlights the impact of extractivist practices, emphasizing how they harm both communities and ecosystems. She transforms traditional materials like adobe and fertile soil into stripped-down installations, challenging viewers to rethink their relationship with the land.
Drawing also plays a crucial role in her practice, offering an intimate means of storytelling. In Where the Wind is Born, Open Sky, she engraved sun-dried clay tiles with memories and symbols of the Calchaquí Valleys, preserving a visual history of the region. While rooted in San Carlos, her work speaks to broader ecological concerns, urging us to recognize the vulnerability of our ecosystems. Sadir sees her art as an offering—one that restores “the wounded memory of the world” and invites us to reconsider the role of tenderness and ritual in our daily lives. “There is an urgent need in me to communicate the vulnerability of ecosystems and the fragility of the territories we inhabit,” she admits. “I often wonder what role tenderness and rituals play in our daily lives.”
Daniel Steegmann Mangrané.
photography. Teresa Estrada
Daniel Steegmann Mangrané.
photography. Teresa Estrada
Credits
Daniel Steegmann-Mangrané, a Barcelona-born artist based in Rio de Janeiro, merges biology and architecture in his abstract sculptures and immersive installations. His multidisciplinary practice—spanning holograms, sound, film, and photography—explores humanity’s entanglement with nature. “The only thing I ask for from a new work, is for it to bring me to places I didn’t even know existed before,” says Steegmann Mangrané. “I love finding myself at the beginning of a process and trying to do things I don’t know how to do.”
Believing art is a collective pursuit, he collaborates with specialists across disciplines to challenge the illusion of human separation from the natural world. His 2023 exhibition, A Leaf Instead of an Eye, spanning 25 years of work, confronted ecological crises through both physical and digital art. Now on sabbatical, Steegmann Mangrané is reimagining his practice—seeking a slower, more tactile, and deeply experimental approach to art. “The world is going to change in a scale and at a speed of which we have never seen before. It’s going to be extremely important to have a sharp imagination,” he explains. “It’s difficult to say how such changes will impact my practice or my thinking of art, but I’m already sure I want it to be slower, more sensual, more handmade, more fragile, more experimental, more raw, more essential, more alive.”
A Leaf Shapes the Eye.
by Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, 2023
courtesy the artist,
MACBA
Museu d‘Art Contemporani de Barcelona,
Mendes Wood DM,
São Paulo, Brussels, Paris, New York
and Esther Schipper Berlin/Paris/Seoul
photography. Andrea Rossetti
A Leaf Shapes the Eye.
by Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, 2023
courtesy the artist,
MACBA
Museu d‘Art Contemporani de Barcelona,
Mendes Wood DM,
São Paulo, Brussels, Paris, New York
and Esther Schipper Berlin/Paris/Seoul
photography. Andrea Rossetti
Marking 280 years of champagne mastery, Moët & Chandon has introduced Collection Impériale Création No. 1, a champagne that embodies the House’s rich heritage and forward-looking artistry. This new cuvée, crafted under the guidance of Cellar Master Benoît Gouez, is a harmonious blend of seven remarkable vintages spanning decades, highlighting the Maison’s concept of Haute Oenologie.
The introduction of Brut champagne in 1869 marked a pivotal moment for Moët & Chandon, departing from the sweeter styles of the era. It set the standard for what has become the global benchmark for champagne. As Gouez aptly states, “Brut was very new at that time… it has been part of the vision of Moët & Chandon to fruit the future and to start exploring a new category of champagne with less dosage, with less sugar, called brut that has become the dominant category.”
The name “Brut Impérial” is a nod to the brand’s historic ties with Napoleon Bonaparte, stemming from his friendship with Jean Moët. “At the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Napoleon, they decided to name their new baby, apparently as a tribute to the friendship between Jean Moët and Napoleon,” reflects Gouez.
Brut nature at its core, Création No. 1 reveals the purity of its flavours — vivid freshness, layered complexity, and a refined balance between youthful energy and seasoned elegance. Each vintage in the blend was meticulously aged, including the vibrant 2016 Grand Vintage, the powerful 2009, and the matured 2004, among others. Together, they form a champagne that redefines the boundaries of Moët & Chandon’s craft, achieving what Gouez describes as a creation “crafted for eternity.”
Beyond its storied history, Moët & Chandon’s unmatched scale and diversity set it apart. With 1,300 hectares of vineyards — nearly double that of its nearest competitor — the brand has access to grapes from around 280 of Champagne’s 319 villages. This expansive reach ensures the blending process captures the region’s essence. As Gouez puts it, “What makes Moët & Chandon so special is the size, the quality, and the diversity of our vineyards and grape supply. We have access to about 280 of them. So we cover 90% of the Champagne region.”
Further elevating this release is a collaboration with contemporary artist Daniel Arsham, who has reimagined the House’s legacy through a sculptural relief and 85 collectable bottles. His artwork will be housed in the historic Galerie Impériale, connecting the House’s long past to its innovative future. “In tasting Collection Impériale Création No. 1, I realised how nuanced the process of champagne-making is, and how the layering of different years and harvests resembles the art of composing a sculpture,” says Arsham.
The art of blending lies at the heart of the Brut Impérial’s identity. “Brut is really about integrating all the diversity of Champagne in one bottle,” Gouez explains. The meticulous combination of Pinot Noir, Meunier, and Chardonnay grapes defines the House’s signature style: “pre-driven, with a bright fruitiness, an elegant maturity made of very light blue, delicate, loads of maturity and most importantly, generosity.”
Positioning their champagnes as akin to haute couture, Moët & Chandon’s offerings, including Grand Vintage and Collection Impérial, represent varying expressions of the brand’s essence. “In fact, today, the way we present Impérial, Grand Vintage, and Collection Impérial is like the three levels of a fashion house,” notes Gouez.
Collection Impériale Création No. 1 sets the stage for future milestones, with new editions planned in the decades leading to the Maison’s 300th year. This debut creation celebrates Moët & Chandon’s vision of excellence while inviting the world to partake in its evolving story of time, taste, and artistry.
