Around 800 nude volunteers from 26 countries participate in large-scale art installation to celebrate brewery centenary in Spain

Around 800 people participated in a large-scale art installation to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Granada-based brewery Cervezas Alhambra, on Saturday 20 September. The company commissioned renowned American artist Spencer Tunick to create the artwork, entitled Retrato Alhambra 1925. The almost 800 volunteers were nude and covered in green paint, forming a living image as a tribute to Andalucía, the natural environment, and Cervezas Alhambra’s signature colour.

The art installation - the first that Tunick has carried out in Andalucía - took place in an olive grove near Granada city. Adventurous participants from across Spain and 25 other countries engaged in the project creating an image of striking visual and symbolic impact.

Jesús Rosado has taken part in all the installations that Spencer Tunick has carried out in Spain: San Sebastián, Barcelona, and Valencia and was in Granada as well. “It is a unique experience that is worth doing once in a lifetime because it stays with you forever,” he said. Petri and Heidi travelled from Finland just for the occasion. “What is truly beautiful about this installation is being together, feeling human, all equal in our differences,” they said.

Malaga resident Theresa O'Shea took part with around 25 other members of the Friends of Cantarriján Naturist Beach Association. She said, "As a naturist, it was a no brainer for me. The chance to get slathered in green paint for a mass photo shoot by the legendary Tunick was too good to pass up. It was a truly unique experience, the atmosphere was super-fun and friendly and there was a real mix of ages and nationalities."

The artist, internationally renowned for his photographic compositions featuring nude people in public spaces, said at the end of the event “I have always wanted to use green body paint in my work, I have had this idea for 15 years, to somehow bring the bodies visually closer to nature and at the same time add a heightened element of surrealism. Green has been used in the past by artists to create utopic landscapes that blend surrealism and fantasy. Now was my turn to give green a try."

Mahou San Miguel's chief marketing officer Emmanuel Pouey said “Spencer Tunick's art installation is a celebration of Andalusian identity and the unhurried philosophy that has guided Cervezas Alhambra for one hundred years, taking the time necessary to create works that, like Retrato Alhambra 1925, will live on in our memory.”

The company has said that the final image from the installation will be unveiled "in the very near future" as a tribute from Cervezas Alhambra to Andalucía in its centenary year, "reinforcing its ongoing commitment to supporting artists, culture, and its deep ties to the region".

Tunick is originally from New York and has travelled the globe to create installations of multiple nude figures in public settings, organising groups from a handful of participants to tens of thousands, all of whom are volunteers.

Founded in 1925 in Granada, Cervezas Alhambra has been part of the 100% Spanish-owned family company Mahou San Miguel since 2007. Its product range includes Alhambra Reserva 1925, Alhambra Reserva Roja, Alhambra Reserva Citra IPA, AlhambraEspecial, Alhambra Radler, Alhambra Tradicional, Alhambra Sin and Las Numeradas.