Coca Cola Bottle 1996

Curator: Oh, wow. It’s sort of…deliriously pretty, like finding jewels in a landfill. Editor: Exactly! We’re looking at Howard Finster's "Coca Cola Bottle," created in 1996. He was a visionary artist, and this piece is an amazing example of his mixed-media assemblages, incorporating sculpture and acrylic paint. The ceramic bottle itself becomes a canvas and a found object treasure, simultaneously. Curator: Treasure is right. I’m just…mesmerized by the energy! The shapes and colors buzzing all over it remind me of pure joy bottled, somehow. It feels really hopeful. But, obviously, I'm looking at a *Coca-Cola bottle* after all! Editor: Well, Finster was deeply concerned with themes of appropriation. In a lot of ways, you can view his adoption of such iconic commercial imagery as a radical, political act that sought to uplift everyday consumer culture, granting it artistic relevance. It's absolutely related to the Pop Art movement in that regard. Curator: That’s interesting! It certainly messes with the clean lines of a typical Pop aesthetic. I keep coming back to the "treasure" aspect, it feels almost… devotional? Like a roadside shrine built from scraps and prayers. Editor: I'd say your intuitive leap isn’t wrong. Finster was, indeed, a Baptist minister, and his artistic practice was deeply connected to his faith. You’ll find his art frequently layering biblical verse amongst those wild colors and patterns. He thought it would help spread God’s word! Curator: Incredible. Knowing that transforms how I see it! All those layers, that vibrant, busy surface…it really does feel like a visual sermon. It’s so full and kind. Editor: Right? Finster believed everything had a purpose, and I'm reminded, looking at this "Coca Cola Bottle," that art, even born from the everyday and mundane, is the transformative reminder of such hope, joy, and maybe a drop of grace. Curator: Exactly! I get the feeling this humble, quirky icon, is also sort of revolutionary and rebellious with its devotion. A testament to turning something common into something extraordinary, I guess. Editor: Absolutely, and that’s Finster’s legacy in a bottle.