Art and Coke cans meet in Sophie Costa Carré d’artistes exhibition

Hong Kong contemporary art gallery‎ Carré d’artistes has collaborated with Coca-Cola and Le French May to present a solo exhibition by French artist Sophie Costa. The eco-friendly exhibition showcases artworks made of everyday upcycled materials, in particular, coke cans.A painter, sculptor and visual artist, Costa has a love of mixing mediums and textures. She combines paint, plaster, glued objects, cardboard, and newspapers into her works. She is fond of using everyday materials that have recognisable strong features and then transforming them. Coca-Cola cans have made a regular appearance in her work.“At first, I stepped on a Coke can and found it was very suitable to be put on the canvas. Then it becomes one of the iconic features in my work,” said Costa.“Coca-Cola is a famous brand with recognisable logo and red packaging, conveying a positive feeling. In my painting, the cans are distorted in different ways and you do not see them in the usual way, they become iconic symbols of love, life and happiness. I want to tell people that upcycling can be lively, funny and artistic too,” she added.While recycling is a hot topic nowadays, upcycling could be seen as an even better option when it comes to bringing new life to waste. Costa’s work conveys the company’s environmentally friendly initiative. The Carré d’artistes gallery has also been transformed into a highly Instagram-able space with a Coke Can wall. It is created with more than 650 pieces of Coca-Cola tall cans and mini cans and will be on display from now till Mid-June.Besides a solo-exhibition from 1 May to 30 June, Costa has flown from France and performed a live painting with the company’s newest Coca-Cola products– a tall slim can and the mini can. Coca-Cola tall cans featured eight designs with iconic Hong Kong heritage buildings. Theses eight decorated Coca-Cola tall cans were a special edition to kick start the design’s launch back in March this year. A 200ml mini can was launched in late April.Costa also used other upcycled materials to incorporate the characteristics of Hong Kong into Costa’s pop-art elements. Costa told Marketing that this was her first visit to Hong Kong, and she hoped to capture memories of the city in the artwork.