Is Alex Israel collaborating with LA's coolest grocery store?

For those unacquainted with Erewhon, it's a high-end Los Angeles grocery store embedded in the zeitgeist. Hailey Bieber smoothies. Star sightings. $19/lb. Buffalo cauliflower. Designed by Belgian architect Humberto Nobrega, Erewhon's stores offer a sleek environment where customers can find trendy supplements like sea moss and lion's mane mushrooms.  Erewhon's menu boasts a range of smoothies, priced between $12 and $22, which draw attention for their ingredients and celebrity endorsements. Furthermore, the store emphasizes non-genetically modified produce and healthy snack foods, often bearing names like "heavenly," "good," and "simple."

It has also become a sought-after gathering spot in Hollywood, accessible to all. Here, the fit and famous mingle freely with tourists, creating a unique atmosphere where selfies with smoothies in hand are a common sight, all without the exclusivity of velvet ropes and bouncers.

It also might be the location of the next collaboration with artist Alex Israel. Israel is a contemporary American artist known for his distinctive works, characterized by a fascination with the visual culture of Los Angeles and its celebrity-centric world. His art explores themes of pop culture, fame, and the intersection of art and entertainment. An article in The Hollywood Reporter titled "Succession, With Smoothies: Inside the Erewhon Dynasty," reports: 

“It’s the quintessential L.A. experience once provided by fashion boutique Fred Segal,” explains L.A. artist Alex Israel, an Erewhon zealot who visits the store every single day. “In the ’90s, teenagers like me used to save up our money to buy anything we could at Fred Segal. We’d just want to be there: studying the brands, the music and the other shoppers’ outfits, cars and attitudes. And now Erewhon is on the top of that list, giving the dayglow L.A. fantasy to all who visit, every day of the week.” (Israel teases a “special project” involving Erewhon coming in 2024.)

Collaborations between contemporary artists and luxury food or grocery brands are a fascinating intersection of art and consumerism. These partnerships blur the lines between high and low culture and pose intriguing questions about the commodification of art in the consumer goods realm. Israel won't be the first artist to venture into the food & drink world to collaborate. 

Andy Warhol's iconic collaboration with Campbell's Soup in the 1960s marked a pivotal moment in art history. His artwork featuring Campbell's Soup cans challenged conventional notions of art by elevating everyday grocery items to the status of high art. It forced viewers to reevaluate the mundane and the mass-produced as objects of aesthetic contemplation. However, this partnership also raises questions about the commercialization of art, as Warhol's work became not only a cultural statement but also a marketable commodity.

Contemporary artists like KAWS and Takashi Murakami have continued this tradition by collaborating with modern luxury food brands. While these collaborations bring art to a wider audience and create visually striking packaging, they can be seen as blurring the lines between art and consumerism even further. The limited-edition bottles and packaging often command premium prices, reinforcing the idea that art can be a status symbol associated with luxury products. These collaborations challenge us to consider whether art loses some of its intrinsic value when it becomes intertwined with consumer goods, or if it gains new relevance in the modern consumer-driven world. They also spark discussions about the commercialization and democratization of art, as these collaborations make art more accessible to a broader spectrum of consumers while maintaining the aura of exclusivity associated with luxury brands.