Art

The 30th anniversary of Planeta Chardonnay is not merely a celebration of the past, but a contemporary project. Instead of self-commemoration, the company has chosen to collaborate with artist Claire Fontaine, known for her ability to deconstruct the codes of the present. The work On Fire (2023) appears on the label as a flame that creates a visual and symbolic short circuit. It is not a simple decoration, but an emoji transformed into a physical and conceptual object. This symbol represents the ambiguity of our times: lighthearted and pop on social media, yet dramatic when associated with real fires. The artistic intervention thus becomes a way to reflect on the relationship between images and responsibility. The anniversary becomes a pretext to question what we celebrate and what we risk losing. The flame invites us to observe the present more closely. This message also extends to the project Una passeggiata lunga e magnifica, quoting Cesare Brandi, a journey through the Selinunte Archaeological Park.

The journey is conceived as a slow, sensory experience, closer to a contemplative act than a tourist activity. The places traversed become vantage points for interpreting the landscape, where ancient history and contemporary crises converge. The interventions prioritize drought-resistant native plants, combining aesthetics with environmental responsibility. Claire Fontaine, a collective with roots in both Paris and Palermo, has long worked on these themes, using Sicily as an observatory of global contradictions. The label thus becomes a surface for reflection. The project transforms the anniversary into a cultural gesture that looks to the future, highlighting the ethical and aesthetic responsibility of every mark. The final flame does not destroy, but illuminates.

Art Constellations is a tour of Planeta Buonivini, a 41-hectare vineyard in the district of the same name—Buonivini—where Nero d’Avola and Moscato are produced, nestled among the almond and carob groves that cover the estate. The tour features a selection of contemporary artworks that engage with the Cantina Invisibile designed by Maria Giuseppina Grasso Cannizzo and with the work of Costanza Algranti for Case Sparse, the flagship design residences of Planeta Hospitality and Planeta Cultura. The exhibition, which is free to visit year-round, consists of acquisitions and collaborations that Planeta has been pursuing for twenty years, showcasing Sicily through a different lens—one that, like wine, remains as contemporary today as it was yesterday.

Large-scale works, reflections on space and time, on Sicily, and on gender issues. This is not an exhibition designed for immediate consumption, but one that invites visitors to explore the objects they interact with within the authoritative setting of a grand wine cellar in a land like Sicily. Vanessa Beecroft, Giuseppe Buzzotta, Claire Fontaine, Petra Feriancova, Monira Al Qadiri, Emiliano Maggi, Ignazio Mortellaro, Pietro Ruffo: these are special guests, watched over by the agricultural life that carefully cultivates the warm landscape of eastern Sicily. The exhibition aims to be constantly updated, open to everyone, and a space where visitors can enjoy high-quality contemporary art starting from a wine-growing site.