A canvas signed by the artist Liviu Alexa ended up on the label of a famous craft beer. To whom is the tribute dedicated?

An unusual encounter between contemporary art and craft beer culture takes place in Cluj-Napoca. A work signed by the artist Liviu Alexa became the image of a new label produced by Clusa Brewery, the brewery from Cluj known for associating its beers with characters, moments and historical stories.

The new beer is called "1582 - African Pale Ale", and in the center of the label is the reproduction of the painting "Nzinga, Cleopatra of Africa - Ace of Black Hearts", made by Liviu Alexa and included in its "Filcai" series.

The beer is a gluten-free African Pale Ale, with 4.6% alcohol, produced by Clusa Brewery in Cluj-Napoca. According to the label, the recipe uses water, African hops, sorghum, and yeast. Portuguese expansion in Central Africa.

Nzinga was born around 1582, hence the name chosen for the beer. She became famous both for her diplomatic and military qualities, as well as for her resistance to the Portuguese for several decades. In 1622, sent to Luanda for negotiations with the Portuguese governor, Nzinga would have discovered that an armchair had been prepared for her interlocutor, while for her there was only a mat placed on the floor. Refusing the symbolic position of inferiority, he would have asked a servant to get down on all fours and use him as a chair, thus negotiating from the same height as the governor.

Alexa, however, deliberately moved the character from the 17th century to the present. In his painting, Nzinga is no longer simply the queen of Africa precolonial, but appears reinterpreted in a contemporary, provocative and ironic register. rea, Nzinga was one of the first leaders of the colonized countries to rebel against the oppressors of Africa, who stole her wealth and soul for 500 years", says Liviu Alexa who has already sold the canvas for 12,000 euros this summer.

The image is monumental - Alexa's Nzinga appears sitting over a figure on all fours - keep the core historical legend, but transports it into a contemporary visual universe.

From the gallery, directly on the beer bottle

For Clusa, the use of a work of art on the label continues a direction that has existed since the brewery's inception. The manufacturer from Cluj has built its visual identity around years and stories, and the labels were designed precisely to send the consumer to characters, places or historical events. A presentation of the brewery noted as early as 2021 that each beer is associated with a year with a special meaning, and the labels are used to tell the stories behind it.

Clusa is a craft brewery founded in Cluj-Napoca in 2020, and the producers state that they use natural processes and long periods of fermentation and maturation. The current portfolio includes many styles, from lager and Vienna Lager to IPA, NEIPA, Porter and Pale Ale.

In the case of the new 1582, the meeting between beer and painting goes further: the artwork no longer functions as a graphic ornament, but becomes the very center of the product's story.

The label explicitly mentions the author and the provenance of the image: "The label reproduces the painting «Nzinga, Cleopatra Africii - Ace of Black Hearts", signed by the artist Liviu Alexa, part of the "Filcai" series."

There is also a final component, specific to the Clusa philosophy: 10 money from each beer is donated to charity. The charitable dimension is not a new one for the producer; since its beginnings, Clusa has announced that part of the income obtained from each beer is directed to people in need.

Thus, a painting from the "Filcai" series ends up in a place where contemporary art rarely appears: on a beer bottle.

"Of course, art snobs will scrunch up their noses and say that such a thing is not done, that art is taken to an infamous place of the commercial. I wish them all the best, I am proud that my canvas will end up in the hands of craft beer lovers and that Nzinga will last in this way as well", pointed out Liviu Alexa in his characteristic style.