LONDON, UK – This week, illycaffè, a leading company in high quality coffee, announces its new partnership with The National Gallery in London, UK. The year-long partnership launches with illy supporting the Gallery’s pop-up catering offer this summer, which includes an alfresco café at the front of the Gallery and an illy Espresso Bar inside. illycaffè will also become a supporter of the Gallery’s Contemporary Art Programme with the forthcoming Kehinde Wiley exhibition.
The al alfresco café will exclusively serve illy coffee throughout the summer until 30th September 2021. The opening of the café coincides with the launch of an outdoor exhibition in Trafalgar Square showcasing over 20 life-sized replicas of some of the most famous and treasured paintings in the National Gallery’s collection.
Running from 3rd of August to 2nd of September 2021, the open-air exhibition will be part of London’s Inside Out Festival – a celebration of art and culture produced to encourage visitors back into London’s West End.
Visitors to The National Gallery will also be able to enjoy illy coffee at the illy Espresso Bar inside the Gallery until 30th September 2021. Here, alongside illy classics such as the eponymous Italian espresso, coffee lovers can also expect specials such as illy’s Cold Brew, a 100% Arabica coffee cold brewed for 12 hours, which is naturally sweet, thirst quenching and offers a uniquely refreshing taste.
As part of the partnership illycaffè will also be supporting the upcoming Kehinde Wiley exhibition, which runs from 10 December 2021–18 April 2022.
Massimiliano Pogliani, CEO of illycaffè, comments: “Through this new partnership, illy extends its commitment to promote beauty in all forms, especially through contemporary art. For over twenty-five years the company has sustained art and culture, supporting artists, institutions, and international exhibitions. The beauty for which illycaffè strives is associated with the Ancient Greek term kalokagathìa, which fuses kalòs (beautiful) and agathòs (good) to create a new meaning in which the goodness of the aroma and the taste of the illy’s blend is combined with the beauty of the visual and tactile experience of our product. Contemporary art successfully embodies these qualities and sponsoring The National Gallery’s Contemporary Art Programme is a source of pride for us.”
Everything that is “made in illy” is about beauty and art, the founding principles of the brand, starting from its logo, designed by artist James Rosenquist, to illy Art Collection cups, decorated by over 100 international artists including Marina Abramovic, Louis Bourgeois, Mark Quinn and, most recently, Ai Weiwei.
