The Macallan Mounts Permanent Artwork by Jorge Méndez Blake at Bass Museum
Launching The Macallan M Collection with a special performance by James Blake.
The Macallan is globally renowned for the distinctive character of its single malt whiskies ever since it was established in 1824 by Alexander Reid on a plateau above the River Spey in north-east Scotland.
This year, the brand teamed up with Art Basel Miami to launch The Macallan M Collection — a range of limited release single malt whiskies including the 2022 editions of the previously released M and M Black and the brand-new M Copper, which celebrates the brand’s acclaimed Six Pillars. “The Six Pillars are the foundation stones that account for The Macallan’s distinctive and exceptional whiskies and comprise Natural Color, Mastery, Curiously Small Spirit Stills, The Estate, Exceptional Oak Casks and Sherry Seasoning,” said the brand in a statement.
On December 2, The Macallan hosted an immersive experience at The Bass Museum of Art and a private dinner that included notable guests such as James Blake, Rhuigi Villaseñor, Brendan Fallis and Hannah Bronfman. Highlights include a sprawling copper light installation on the lawn of The Bass that evoked the River Spey where The Macallan was born. “The installation evokes the purity of liquid, the copper color of the stills.”
To further celebrate the launch, James Blake engaged in a special live performance against the backdrop of The Bass that featured AI projection mapping that told the rich history of The Macallan and The M Collection. The musical experience was punctuated with an intimate performance featuring dancers from New York City Ballet.
The Macallan also commissioned art prize recipient Jorge Méndez Blake to create a permanent installation. Jorge’s expansive wall art was influenced by Mexican poet Jose Juan Tablada’s two books on haikus. The artist dismantled the words of these poems which contained 99 haikus. “Jorge created a visual composition utilizing every single word and punctuation symbol, without adding or omitting any,” said the brand in a statement. “The general theme of the haikus refers to nature, animals and plants, with contextual references to Miami Beach where the work will live.”
In an exclusive interview with Jaume Ferras, Global Creative Director for The Macallan, he expressed the importance of paying homage to the past while finding new ways to innovate the brand and support artists of all kinds. “We’re almost 200 years old and our past is very important for us to inspire the way we create products,” he said. “So we tend to look back in our history and our DNA to find inspiration, to create new art pieces that are relevant in the contemporary world. So M Collection is a good example of getting inspired about our craftsmanship and where we come from to create something that is very contemporary and is very, I would say we kind of like the beauty of the simplicity of things.”
In regards to The Macallan’s commissioned and permanent artwork by Jorge for The Bass, Jaume expressed: “So the relationship with nature is huge. We have a river in the estate where we are, we crop and grow our barley in the estate. So our relationship with nature is so big that when we wanted to commission an artist that champions this nature by nature approach that we have as a brand. So what he’s done is a beautiful, representative model that not only celebrates his respective practice, but emphasizes our company’s deep connection with nature.”
When Jaume isn’t overseeing the collection of whiskies for The Macallan, he’s preoccupied with growing his sneaker collection. “My holy grail is the Air Jordan 1 Chicago. What I like about some sneaker brands is that they’re very good at keeping what makes them unique and being very consistent,” he said. “But also they are very bold in changing materials, changing colors, changing names, and have the diversity of evolution of the design of it. That’s part of my ethos in the work I do for The Macallan.”
Head to The Macallan’s website to learn more about the brand’s Art Basel Miami Beach 2022 experience.
Bass Museum
2100 Collins Ave
Miami Beach, FL 33139
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