LOS ANGELES, Feb. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — In the refined illy lounge at the contemporary art fair Frieze Los Angeles, from 26 February to 3 March, art lovers, gallery owners and artists will have the opportunity to taste the unique illy blend, created by selecting only 1% of the best Arabica beans, a symbol of Italian excellence and passion for coffee. The illy space thus becomes a crossroads between art and flavour, offering an experience that blends contemporary creativity with the sensory pleasure of a coffee break.
In this exceptional setting, illycaffè is presenting for the first time in the United States the new illy Art Collection signed by John Armleder, one of the most radical and visionary Swiss artists on the international scene. Armleder, a key figure inspired by the Fluxus movement and the work of John Cage, is known for his multidisciplinary approach spanning painting, sculpture, design, performance and installation, bringing his free, ironic and conceptual vision to museums around the world. The collaboration with illycaffè further enriches a career marked by constant innovation and experimentation.
The collection, entitled ‘Tastes’, transforms the illy cup into an object of aesthetic and cultural reflection: mirrored surfaces and iridescent reflections evoke Armleder’s famous disco balls, inviting a dialogue between the everyday object and the artistic dimension. Through this creation, each cup and saucer becomes a window onto worlds of light, visual play and contemporary inspiration.
“We are proud to present the new illy Art Collection by John Armleder in preview at Frieze Los Angeles: a great opportunity to reaffirm our vision of art as a space for freedom, experimentation, and dialogue. In this project, the illy cup stands out as an object of artistic expression, capable of connecting contemporary art, design, and sensory experience,” commented Cristina Scocchia, CEO of illycaffè.
With illycaffè, global coffee partner of Frieze, the experience offered in the illy lounge transcends the simple ritual of coffee, becoming a moment of beauty and meditation: the tasting of the unique illy blend merges with the sensory and conceptual journey proposed by the illy Art Collection, confirming illycaffè’s commitment to promoting science and beauty through the universal language of art.
The collection signed by John Armleder is available on the illy e-shop, in illy stores (illy Caffè and illy Shop), at leading retailers and through indirect e-commerce channels.
Available formats:
4 espresso cups – Recommended retail price: $170.00
4 cappuccino cups – Recommended retail price: $190.00
2 espresso cups – Recommended retail price: $85.00
2 cappuccino cups – Recommended retail price: $95.00
illycaffè
An Italian family business founded in Trieste in 1933, illycaffè has always been dedicated to the mission of offering the best coffee in the world. It produces a single 100% Arabica blend made up of nine different components. The company selects only 1% of the finest Arabica beans. Every day, over 10 million illy coffee cups are enjoyed in bars, restaurants, hotels, monobrand cafés, homes, and offices across more than 140 countries, where the company is present through subsidiaries and distributors. Since its inception, illycaffè has oriented its strategies towards a sustainable business model, an approach strengthened in 2019 by adopting Benefit Corporation status and, in 2021, becoming the first Italian coffee company to achieve international B Corp certification. Everything that is ‘made by illy’ is enriched with beauty and art, starting with the logo designed by James Rosenquist, the illy Art Collection, cups decorated by over 135 international artists, and coffee machines created by renowned designers. With the aim of spreading a culture of quality among growers, baristas, and coffee lovers, the company has developed its University of Coffee, which now offers courses in 24 countries worldwide. In 2024, illycaffè generated consolidated revenues of €630 million. The illy monobrand network comprises 157 points of sale in 28 countries.
John Armleder
John Armleder is a Swiss contemporary artist known for continuing the trajectory of Fluxus artists and John Cage. Armleder’s work spans various media, from painting and sculpture to design, performance, and installation. “I am an artist who presents new things or new forms, or new strategies for producing work,” he explained. Born on 24 June 1948 in Geneva, Switzerland, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in his hometown, where he later met Patrick Lucchini and Claude Rychner, who helped him found Galerie Ecart in 1969. Their gallery served as a space for performance art and an independent publishing house, bringing numerous renowned artists to Switzerland, including Joseph Beuys and Andy Warhol. Armleder gained international recognition with his series of furniture sculptures in the late 1970s, which brought together decorative art and painting within the same exhibition space as a way to reflect on their lack of distinction. John Armleder has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions worldwide. In the past decade, he has held personal exhibitions at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy (2024); Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2021); KANAL – Centre Pompidou, Brussels (2021); Aspen Art Museum, Colorado (2019); Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany (2019); MUSEION, Bolzano, Italy (2018); Museo Madre, Naples, Italy (2018); Istituto Svizzero, Rome (2017). In 1986, Armleder represented Switzerland at the Venice Biennale. His work is held in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris; the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles; the Kunstmuseum in Basel, Switzerland; MoMA in New York; and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark. Armleder lives and works in Geneva.
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