Beck's beer bottle labels

Beck's beer bottle labels (L to R)

Tim Head (born UK 1946), 1992
Screenprint
E. 311-2005
Given by Gill Saunders

Damien Hirst (born UK 1965), 1995
Offset lithograph
E.867-2003
Given by Edwina Sassoon through the Friends of the V&A

Rebecca Horn (born Germany 1944),1994
Offset lithograph
E.219-2005
Given by Riikka Kuittinen

V&A Museum

The beer brewing company Beck's has been sponsoring contemporary art events since 1985 when they supported the German Art in the 20th Century exhibition at the Royal Academy. Since then Beck's has commemorated its major sponsorships and exhibition openings by inviting artists to create limited edition labels for the bottles of beer which are offered to guests at the private views. By doing this they aim to identify their brand image with the perceived attributes of contemporary art: cool, original, young, irreverent, controversial and talked-about. Each design offers us a snapshot of the artist's work within the limitations of a small label. Some are instantly recognisable - such as Damien Hirst's coloured dots, familiar from his spot paintings (one of two labels he designed in 1995) - but others, are a little less obvious. Tim Head's label shows several plastic coffee stirrers; his design connects with his interest in patterns and motifs derived from everyday throw-away materials. Rebecca Horn is best-known as the maker of wearable artworks, and kinetic sculptures which produce sounds or generate 'paintings' by mechanical gestures of pouring or spilling.

In every case, these artist-designed labels represent a fascinating synthesis of art and design, with popular culture, marketing and consumption, as well as embodying the youth-orientated character of Beck's sponsorship campaigns.

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